Morningstar Investment Management LLC Has $1.96 Million Stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW

Key Points

• Morningstar Investment Management LLC cut its T. Rowe Price Group position by 66.1% in the first quarter, selling 42,425 shares and ending with 21,771 shares worth about $1.96 million.
• T. Rowe Price Group recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.52 versus estimates of $2.37 and revenue of $1.86 billion, while quarterly revenue rose 5.3% year over year.
• The company continues to pay a large dividend of $1.30 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 4.5%, even as analysts remain cautious with a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $104.50.

Morningstar Investment Management LLC lowered its position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 66.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,771 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 42,425 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC's holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $1,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 332.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,770,071 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $897,880,000 after buying an additional 6,740,172 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 126.5% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,280,854 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $335,894,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832,231 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $128,283,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,073,000. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 81.0% in the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,306,922 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $134,142,000 after purchasing an additional 584,949 shares in the last quarter. 73.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on TROW shares. TD Cowen reduced their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $107.00 to $91.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $98.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $107.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $104.50.

T. Rowe Price Group Trading Up 1.3%

TROW opened at $116.50 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $110.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.77. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.22 and a 12 month high of $121.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 1.47.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The asset manager reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.60% and a net margin of 28.28%.T. Rowe Price Group's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. T. Rowe Price Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.73%.

Insider Activity at T. Rowe Price Group

In other news, VP Stephon A. Jackson sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.56, for a total value of $307,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 83,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,603,040.48. The trade was a 3.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

T. Rowe Price Group 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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