Marathon Capital Management Decreases Stock Holdings in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW

Key Points

• Marathon Capital Management trimmed its stake in T. Rowe Price by 4.6% in Q4 to 653,125 shares (about $66.9M), which still represents 14.4% of Marathon’s portfolio and 0.30% of TROW outstanding.
• Analyst sentiment is weak: the consensus rating is "Reduce" with an average target of $96.62 after several recent downgrades and price-target cuts.
• T. Rowe Price raised its quarterly dividend to $1.30 ($5.20 annualized, ~5.2% yield); its latest quarter showed revenue up 6% year-over-year while EPS slightly missed estimates.

Marathon Capital Management reduced its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 653,125 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 31,500 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Group comprises about 14.4% of Marathon Capital Management's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Marathon Capital Management owned 0.30% of T. Rowe Price Group worth $66,867,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 540.9% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 282 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in T. Rowe Price Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in T. Rowe Price Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 170.3% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 300 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 84.3% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 317 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. 73.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $115.00 to $107.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $100.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $94.00 to $87.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, T. Rowe Price Group presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $96.62.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Down 0.4%

T. Rowe Price Group stock opened at $99.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 1.50. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.22 and a twelve month high of $118.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $92.30 and a 200-day moving average of $99.38.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.47 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 28.53% and a return on equity of 20.29%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. This is a boost from T. Rowe Price Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. T. Rowe Price Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.22%.

T. Rowe Price Group Company 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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