Banco Santander S.A. Cuts Holdings in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Banco Santander S.A. decreased its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,850 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $10,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,975 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,995 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $904,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in T. Rowe Price Group in the fourth quarter worth about $252,000. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 29,386 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,323,000 after purchasing an additional 5,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Capital Holdings LLC boosted its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 21,865 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,473,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 $14,749,822.95. This represents a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total transaction of $449,318.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 36,800 shares in the company, valued at $4,021,136. This trade represents a 10.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TROW. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $118.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $113.00 price objective (up from $111.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $126.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.09.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

TROW stock opened at $100.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a one year low of $97.26 and a one year high of $125.81. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $110.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.09.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by ($0.08). T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 29.61%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.27 per share. This is an increase from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.05%. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.46%.

T. Rowe Price Group 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.