Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Stake in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) by 5.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Ally Financial were worth $642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Copia Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Ally Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Ally Financial by 125.7% in the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Ally Financial by 59.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in Ally Financial by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Ally Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ally Financial

In related news, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson bought 8,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.81 per share, with a total value of $252,642.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 236,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,284,131.01. The trade was a 3.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Stephanie N. Richard sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.14, for a total value of $257,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 90,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,905,038.18. This trade represents a 8.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on ALLY shares. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Ally Financial from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Ally Financial in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Ally Financial in a research note on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Ally Financial from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ally Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.60.

Ally Financial Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE ALLY opened at $41.20 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.80. Ally Financial Inc. has a one year low of $29.52 and a one year high of $45.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $12.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.15.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.15. Ally Financial had a return on equity of 9.53% and a net margin of 6.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ally Financial Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.24%.

Ally Financial Profile

Ally Financial Inc, a digital financial-services company, provides various digital financial products and services in the United States, Canada, and Bermuda. The company operates through Automotive Finance Operations, Insurance Operations, Mortgage Finance Operations, and Corporate Finance Operations segments.