Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Holdings in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 45.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 490,155 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 152,430 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $53,760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 7,992.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,067,655 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $116,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,461 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 382.1% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 398,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $43,373,000 after buying an additional 315,581 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,840,807 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $745,169,000 after buying an additional 231,286 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 15.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,611,307 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $185,810,000 after buying an additional 220,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 77.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 451,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $52,032,000 after acquiring an additional 196,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at T. Rowe Price Group

In related news, VP Andrew Justin Mackenzi Thomson sold 4,047 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.35, for a total value of $499,197.45. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 119,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,749,822.95. This represents a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on TROW shares. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $120.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $102.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, T. Rowe Price Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.09.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TROW opened at $119.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.42. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.49 and a 1 year high of $125.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $116.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.25.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 30.35% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.17 EPS. On average, analysts predict that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.27%.

T. Rowe Price Group Company Profile

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm provides its services to individuals, institutional investors, retirement plans, financial intermediaries, and institutions. It launches and manages equity and fixed income mutual funds. The firm invests in the public equity and fixed income markets across the globe.