LPL Financial LLC Raises Position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC has increased its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 16.1%, now owning a total of 494,839 shares valued at approximately $45.5 million.
• Analysts have mixed viewpoints on T. Rowe Price Group, with Barclays boosting their price objective to $91 while several other firms have set lower targets, resulting in a consensus rating of "Hold".
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.27 per share, which equates to an annualized amount of $5.08 and a dividend yield of 4.9%.

LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 16.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 494,839 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 68,551 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.22% of T. Rowe Price Group worth $45,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of TROW. Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 6,052,469 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $684,474,000 after buying an additional 425,142 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,631,429 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $635,260,000 after purchasing an additional 116,231 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,397,819 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $271,169,000 after purchasing an additional 40,514 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,290,739 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $259,060,000 after purchasing an additional 208,304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,762,910 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $199,367,000 after buying an additional 387,604 shares during the period. 73.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen reduced their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $89.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up from $91.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, T. Rowe Price Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $101.09.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Down 0.3%

TROW stock traded down $0.29 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $105.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 609,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,837,003. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.85 and a 1 year high of $125.81. The company has a market capitalization of $23.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.47. The company's fifty day moving average is $98.84 and its 200-day moving average is $98.22.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.09. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 28.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $1.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. T. Rowe Price Group's payout ratio is presently 56.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 968 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total transaction of $93,876.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,611 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,319,994.78. This represents a 6.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Dorothy C. Sawyer sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.43, for a total value of $190,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 44,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,274,214.27. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About T. Rowe Price Group

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm provides its services to individuals, institutional investors, retirement plans, financial intermediaries, and institutions. It launches and manages equity and fixed income mutual funds. The firm invests in the public equity and fixed income markets across the globe.