Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs significantly boosted its T. Rowe Price stake, increasing holdings by 332% in the fourth quarter to 8.77 million shares worth about $897.9 million, or roughly 4.02% of the company.
• T. Rowe Price reported solid quarterly results, with EPS of $2.52 topping estimates and revenue of $1.86 billion slightly ahead of expectations; revenue also rose 5.3% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, implying an annualized payout of $5.20 and a 5.0% dividend yield, while analysts currently lean cautious with an average “Reduce” rating.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 332.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,770,071 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 6,740,172 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 4.02% of T. Rowe Price Group worth $897,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TROW. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter worth about $128,283,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter worth about $61,073,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec grew its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 81.0% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,306,922 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $134,142,000 after buying an additional 584,949 shares during the last quarter. Anchyra Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter worth about $48,012,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the third quarter worth about $34,034,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.39% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Stephon A. Jackson sold 3,000 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 83,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,603,040.48. This trade represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of TROW opened at $104.01 on Thursday. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.22 and a twelve month high of $118.22. The stock's 50 day moving average is $98.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.15, a P/E/G ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 1.50.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The asset manager reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.23 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. T. Rowe Price Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TROW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $105.00 price target on T. Rowe Price Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $100.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research raised T. Rowe Price Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Argus raised T. Rowe Price Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, T. Rowe Price Group presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $99.54.

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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