Howard Capital Management LLC Buys 39,598 Shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW

Key Points

• Howard Capital Management increased its T. Rowe Price stake by 220.8% in the third quarter, acquiring 39,598 additional shares for a total holding of 57,528 shares valued at approximately $6.0 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: T. Rowe Price has a consensus “Reduce” rating, with one Buy, ten Hold, and three Sell ratings and an average price target of $104.08.
• The stock traded near $100.97, while the company reported quarterly earnings and revenue above estimates and maintained a 5.2% dividend yield based on its $1.30 quarterly payout.

Howard Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 220.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,528 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 39,598 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management LLC's holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $5,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,565 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lifted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 0.6% in the second quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 15,914 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 9.4% in the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,150 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 0.4% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 25,062 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,259,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concorde Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 3.9% during the first quarter. Concorde Asset Management LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. 73.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded T. Rowe Price Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group assumed coverage on T. Rowe Price Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $107.00 target price on the stock. Evercore set a $109.00 price target on T. Rowe Price Group in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $103.00 to $102.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $104.08.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ TROW traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $100.97. 2,609,861 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,870,238. The business's 50-day moving average is $107.27 and its 200-day moving average is $106.67. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.22 and a twelve month high of $122.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 1.45.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.91% and a net margin of 29.26%. The business's revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.24 earnings per share. Analysts predict that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 10.09 EPS for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. T. Rowe Price Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.16%.

Insider Activity at T. Rowe Price Group

In related news, VP Joshua Nelson sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.82, for a total value of $1,118,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 71,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,975,896.96. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

About T. Rowe Price Group

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc is a global investment management firm headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The company provides investment strategies and related services to individual investors, retirement plans, financial intermediaries, institutions, and other clients.

Its offerings include actively managed mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, collective investment trusts, and other portfolio solutions. T. Rowe Price invests across equity, fixed-income, multi-asset, and alternative strategies, and also provides retirement planning, asset allocation, advisory, and investment research services.

Founded in 1937 by Thomas Rowe Price Jr., the company serves clients through operations and distribution relationships in the United States and international markets.

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