Merit Financial Group LLC Has $937,000 Stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Merit Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 23.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,201 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,079 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 25,565 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,891,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 93.0% during the fourth quarter. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,780 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 1,821 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 506,737 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $57,307,000 after buying an additional 76,910 shares in the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,797 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. 73.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert F. Maclellan sold 3,955 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.56, for a total value of $362,119.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 42,979 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,935,157.24. The trade was a 8.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 968 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 13,611 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,319,994.78. The trade was a 6.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on TROW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $116.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.09.

T. Rowe Price Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TROW traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $94.98. 1,078,422 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,504,435. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.85 and a twelve month high of $125.81. The firm has a market cap of $20.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.37, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.49. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $90.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.29.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 29.61%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. On average, analysts expect that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.27 per share. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. T. Rowe Price Group's payout ratio is currently 57.60%.

T. Rowe Price Group Company Profile

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.