Dean Investment Associates LLC Cuts Stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Dean Investment Associates LLC lowered its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 53,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,090 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Group comprises 0.9% of Dean Investment Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $6,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 165,510 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,718,000 after buying an additional 4,300 shares during the last quarter. Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $868,000. MSH Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,261,000. Zacks Investment Management raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 68,239 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter worth $63,284,000. 73.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 36,800 shares in the company, valued at $4,021,136. This represents a 10.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert F. Maclellan sold 3,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.56, for a total transaction of $362,119.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,935,157.24. This trade represents a 8.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on TROW. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $110.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.00.

T. Rowe Price Group Trading Down 2.5 %

TROW opened at $85.37 on Thursday. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.85 and a twelve month high of $125.81. The firm has a market cap of $18.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.32, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.71.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $1.27 dividend. This is a positive change from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.95%. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.46%.

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.