Savant Capital LLC Sells 12,254 Shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW

Key Points

• Savant Capital LLC cut its T. Rowe Price Group stake by 75.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 12,254 shares and leaving it with 4,038 shares worth about $413,000.
• 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 announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, implying an annualized payout of $5.20 and a dividend yield of 4.9%.

Savant Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 75.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,038 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 12,254 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC's holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TROW. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 41.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 18,809 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,728,000 after acquiring an additional 5,467 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 13,054 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 44.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $149,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in T. Rowe Price Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $931,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,245 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,208,000 after acquiring an additional 1,703 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $105.00 price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. Evercore decreased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $104.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $103.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $107.00 to $91.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $85.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, T. Rowe Price Group has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $99.54.

T. Rowe Price Group Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ TROW opened at $105.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 1.50. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $85.22 and a 1 year high of $118.22. The firm's 50-day moving average is $99.06 and its 200-day moving average is $99.30.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The asset manager reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for 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 firm earned $2.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. T. Rowe Price Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Stephon A. Jackson sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.56, for a total value of $307,680.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 83,883 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,603,040.48. This trade represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

About T. Rowe Price Group

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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