Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Grows Stock Holdings in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 24.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 211,968 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 41,802 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $23,971,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,063,837 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,947,559,000 after acquiring an additional 135,203 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,187,176 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $812,798,000 after purchasing an additional 346,369 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,515,198 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $598,801,000 after purchasing an additional 25,481 shares in the last quarter. Provident Trust Co. raised its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 2,611,294 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $295,311,000 after buying an additional 213,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,870,446 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $211,529,000 after buying an additional 8,992 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $118.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued 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. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $113.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, T. Rowe Price Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.82.

T. Rowe Price Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:TROW opened at $91.87 on Tuesday. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a one year low of $89.70 and a one year high of $125.81. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $104.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last issued its quarterly 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 firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.53%. This is an increase from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. T. Rowe Price Group’s payout ratio is currently 55.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 36,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,021,136. This represents a 10.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

About T. Rowe Price Group

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.