Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Purchases 23,500 Shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden increased its T. Rowe Price Group stake by 52.1% in the first quarter, buying 23,500 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 68,577 shares worth about $6.18 million.
• Institutional interest remains high, with 73.39% of TROW stock owned by institutions; several other funds also recently boosted or initiated positions in the company.
• Analysts remain cautious overall: the stock has an average rating of “Reduce,” with an average price target of $100.54, while the company also reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS and maintains a 4.4% dividend yield.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 52.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,577 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 23,500 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $6,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 91.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 257 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 540.9% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 282 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 170.3% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 300 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 73.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on TROW. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $98.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $100.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Stephon A. Jackson sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were 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 approximately $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 accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TROW opened at $118.55 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $25.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.47. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.22 and a fifty-two week high of $118.64. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $105.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.34.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The asset manager reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.15. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.60% and a net margin of 28.28%.The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. T. Rowe Price Group's revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.69 EPS for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. T. Rowe Price Group's payout ratio is currently 55.73%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding TROW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.