First Trust Advisors LP Increases Position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,255,375 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 154,464 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $141,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of TROW. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 67.4% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 231 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in T. Rowe Price Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 280 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in T. Rowe Price Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co grew its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 48.8% during the 4th quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 305 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Trading Up 0.9 %

TROW stock opened at $86.11 on Friday. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.85 and a 12 month high of $125.81. The stock has a market cap of $19.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $95.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.41.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 EPS for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.90%. This is a boost from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio is 55.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TROW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $126.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $104.00 to $80.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Bank of America dropped their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $113.00 price objective (up previously from $111.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at T. Rowe Price Group

In other news, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total value of $449,318.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 36,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,021,136. The trade was a 10.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert F. Maclellan sold 3,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.56, for a total transaction of $362,119.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 42,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,935,157.24. The trade was a 8.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.