AlphaQuest LLC Raises Position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 211.9% in the fourth quarter, ending with 20,089 shares valued at about $2.06 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" with a consensus price target of $99.54, and several firms recently kept or lowered hold ratings.
• T. Rowe Price reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS expectations and announcing a $1.30 quarterly dividend payable June 29, which annualizes to a 5.0% yield.

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 211.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,089 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 13,649 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $2,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of TROW. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 91.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 257 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 540.9% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 282 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 170.3% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 300 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. 73.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TROW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $100.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $85.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $107.00 to $91.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $99.54.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ TROW opened at $103.82 on Wednesday. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.22 and a 52 week high of $118.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.13, a PEG ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $96.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.19.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The asset manager reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.60% and a net margin of 28.28%.T. Rowe Price Group's revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. T. Rowe Price Group's dividend payout ratio is 55.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other T. Rowe Price Group news, VP Stephon A. Jackson sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.56, for a total transaction of $307,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 83,883 shares in the company, valued at $8,603,040.48. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About T. Rowe Price Group

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc is a global investment management firm headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, founded by Thomas Rowe Price Jr. in 1937. The company provides a broad range of investment products and services for individual investors, financial intermediaries, retirement plan sponsors and institutional clients. Its offerings are built around active investment management and in-house research across equity, fixed income and multi-asset strategies, reflecting a long history as a research-driven asset manager.

The firm's product lineup includes mutual funds, separate accounts, collective investment trusts, target-date and target-risk funds, and managed account solutions, as well as services for defined contribution and defined benefit retirement plans.

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