Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Cuts Stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW

Key Points

• Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI reduced its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 7.2%, owning approximately 0.06% of the company, valued at $12.74 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Amid mixed analyst ratings, T. Rowe Price Group's average target price is currently set at $107.54, with ten analysts rating it as a "Hold" while four issued a "Sell" rating.
• T. Rowe Price Group recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.27, representing an annual yield of 4.9%, and had a reported EPS of $2.24 for the last quarter.

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI lowered its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 132,059 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 10,190 shares during the period. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI owned approximately 0.06% of T. Rowe Price Group worth $12,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,286,393 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,414,931,000 after acquiring an additional 222,556 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,706,251 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $707,973,000 after acquiring an additional 519,075 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,433,684 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $315,453,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035,865 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,955,703 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $271,541,000 after acquiring an additional 138,515 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,374,063 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $218,105,000 after acquiring an additional 83,324 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TROW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $102.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $103.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $107.54.

Insider Transactions at T. Rowe Price Group

In related news, Director Robert F. Maclellan sold 3,090 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.01, for a total value of $324,480.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 47,335 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,970,648.35. This represents a 6.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:TROW opened at $102.76 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $105.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.18. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.85 and a twelve month high of $125.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 1.50.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 28.72% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. Analysts expect that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.27 dividend. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. T. Rowe Price Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.76%.

About T. Rowe Price Group

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.