Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 275,468 Shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its T. Rowe Price Group stake by 88.1% in Q1, selling 275,468 shares and leaving it with 37,300 shares valued at about $3.36 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” with a consensus price target of $100.54, even after some firms adjusted targets and ratings.
• T. Rowe Price recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.52 EPS on $1.86 billion in revenue, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share for a 4.6% yield.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 88.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,300 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 275,468 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $3,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TROW. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 91.8% in 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 period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 540.9% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 282 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in T. Rowe Price Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 170.3% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 300 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new position in T. Rowe Price Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 73.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on TROW shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $98.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $103.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $107.00 to $91.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $100.54.

T. Rowe Price Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TROW opened at $113.69 on Wednesday. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.22 and a 1 year high of $118.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.50. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $104.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.06.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The asset manager reported $2.52 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $1.85 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.60% and a net margin of 28.28%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. T. Rowe Price Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at T. Rowe Price Group

In related news, VP Stephon A. Jackson sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.56, for a total value of $307,680.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 83,883 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,603,040.48. This trade represents a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

T. Rowe Price Group Profile

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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