HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 16,795 Shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its T. Rowe Price Group stake by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 16,795 shares and leaving it with 203,358 shares valued at about $20.82 million.
• T. Rowe Price Group reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.52 versus estimates of $2.37 and revenue of $1.86 billion, up 5.3% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, implying an annualized dividend of $5.20 and a yield of 5.0%; meanwhile, analysts remain cautious with an average “Reduce” rating and target price of $99.54.

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 203,358 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 16,795 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of T. Rowe Price Group worth $20,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Essex Bank grew its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 3.6% in the third quarter. Essex Bank now owns 2,914 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 4.8% in the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,249 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. GenTrust LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1834 Investment Advisors Co. grew its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 37,490 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,838,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.39% of the company's stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:TROW opened at $103.39 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $95.75 and its 200-day moving average is $99.18. The stock has a market cap of $22.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.51. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.22 and a 1-year high of $118.22.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for 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%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. T. Rowe Price Group's payout ratio is currently 55.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on TROW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $103.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded T. Rowe Price Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Evercore reduced their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $104.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $99.54.

Insider Activity at T. Rowe Price Group

In related 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 stock was sold at an average price of $102.56, for a total value of $307,680.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 83,883 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available through 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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