Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY)

Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE:ALLY) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 13,074 call options on the company. This is an increase of 133% compared to the typical volume of 5,620 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Ally Financial from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Ally Financial from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BTIG Research cut Ally Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ally Financial from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Ally Financial from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ally Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.82.

Insider Activity at Ally Financial

In other Ally Financial news, CEO Michael George Rhodes purchased 25,634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $39.09 per share, for a total transaction of $1,002,033.06. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,634 shares in the company, valued at $1,002,033.06. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Russell E. Hutchinson acquired 19,100 shares of Ally Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $753,495.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 202,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,002,235.25. This trade represents a 10.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ally Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Ally Financial by 65.8% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Ally Financial by 26.1% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 457,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,492,000 after buying an additional 94,752 shares in the last quarter. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ally Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $378,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Ally Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,830,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Ally Financial by 104.9% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 77,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,778,000 after purchasing an additional 39,493 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.76% of the company’s stock.

Ally Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:ALLY traded down $1.02 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $31.10. 3,837,074 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,130,987. Ally Financial has a 52 week low of $30.06 and a 52 week high of $45.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.44.

Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.21. Ally Financial had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 9.31%. The company had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ally Financial will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ally Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. Ally Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.15%.

Ally Financial Company 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.