T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $112.67.

TROW has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded T. Rowe Price Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $92.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 1,138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $121,913.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,511,925.69. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 1,138 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total value of $121,913.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,511,925.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Freeman A. Hrabowski III sold 8,740 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.32, for a total transaction of $1,034,116.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,073 shares in the company, valued at $2,493,357.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of T. Rowe Price Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TROW. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 6.9% during the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC bought a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 1.4% during the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 74,477 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,080,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 6.0% during the first quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 100,214 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,218,000 after acquiring an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 1.0% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 41,202 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,023,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. 73.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ TROW opened at $108.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $115.00 and a 200 day moving average of $107.00. T. Rowe Price Group has a twelve month low of $87.43 and a twelve month high of $132.76.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 27.69% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that T. Rowe Price Group will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.56%. This is a boost from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.92%.

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.