North Star Asset Management Inc. Sells 42,698 Shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW

Key Points

• North Star Asset Management cut its T. Rowe Price Group stake by 27.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 42,698 shares and ending with 114,811 shares valued at about $11.75 million.
• T. Rowe Price Group reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.52 versus $2.37 expected and revenue of $1.86 billion, up 5.3% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, implying a 5.0% annualized yield, while analysts currently have a consensus rating of “Reduce” with an average price target of $99.54.

North Star Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 27.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 114,811 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 42,698 shares during the quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. owned 0.05% of T. Rowe Price Group worth $11,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in T. Rowe Price Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $540,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 141.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 175,885 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $18,053,000 after acquiring an additional 103,174 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 79,003 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $8,088,000 after acquiring an additional 11,691 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 43.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,768 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $32,021,000 after acquiring an additional 95,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LBP AM SA lifted its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 156,879 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $16,061,000 after acquiring an additional 30,226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.39% of the company's stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TROW opened at $103.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 1.51. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.22 and a 52 week high of $118.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $95.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.18.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The asset manager reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 28.28% and a return on equity of 20.60%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. T. Rowe Price Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Stephon A. Jackson sold 3,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $307,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 83,883 shares in the company, valued at $8,603,040.48. This trade represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TROW. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $98.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $85.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore decreased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of T. Rowe Price Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $99.54.

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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