T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) Shares Acquired by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 357,556 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,062 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $40,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. PGGM Investments grew its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 28,613 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,236,000 after acquiring an additional 2,002 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 54,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,281,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 155,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $17,573,000 after buying an additional 1,454 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 669 shares during the period. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the fourth quarter worth $412,000. 73.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

T. Rowe Price Group Price Performance

NASDAQ TROW opened at $93.04 on Friday. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.37 and a fifty-two week high of $125.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $108.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.59. The firm has a market cap of $20.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last posted 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 net margin of 29.61% and a return on equity of 20.83%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 EPS for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.27 per share. This is a positive change from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on TROW shares. StockNews.com cut T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $118.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $113.00 target price (up previously from $111.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $126.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $113.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at T. Rowe Price Group

In other news, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total value of $449,318.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 36,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,021,136. The trade was a 10.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.