First Trust Advisors LP Has $332.99 Million Stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP boosted its T. Rowe Price Group stake by 12.6% in the first quarter, ending with 3.69 million shares valued at about $333 million. Institutional ownership overall remains high at 73.39%.
• T. Rowe Price reported better-than-expected earnings for the quarter, posting $2.52 EPS versus the $2.37 consensus and revenue of $1.86 billion, up 5.3% year over year. The company also continues to show solid profitability with a 28.28% net margin.
• The stock recently paid a $1.30 quarterly dividend, equal to a $5.20 annualized payout and a 4.4% yield. Despite this, analysts are cautious overall, with a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a target price of $104.50.

First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 12.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,694,171 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 413,317 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 1.72% of T. Rowe Price Group worth $332,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TROW. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 25,062 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,259,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,167 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. GenTrust LLC boosted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. GenTrust LLC now owns 2,114 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Fiduciary Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 4.5% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 2,579 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, 1834 Investment Advisors Co. increased its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 37,490 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,838,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 73.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ TROW opened at $117.61 on Wednesday. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.22 and a 12-month high of $121.17. The company has a market capitalization of $25.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 1.47. The firm's 50 day moving average is $109.38 and its 200-day moving average is $101.50.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The asset manager reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.15. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 28.28% and a return on equity of 20.60%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 10.07 EPS for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. T. Rowe Price Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on TROW. Evercore set a $121.00 price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a report on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $98.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings raised T. Rowe Price Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $107.00 to $91.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $104.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Stephon A. Jackson sold 3,000 shares of T. Rowe Price Group 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 owned 83,883 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,603,040.48. The trade was a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Company 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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