Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Increases Holdings in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Key Points

• The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 31.8% in the first quarter, now owning 13,180 shares valued at approximately $1.21 million.
• Insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 968 shares at an average price of $96.98, reducing her ownership by 6.64%.
• T. Rowe Price Group reported earnings of $2.24 per share, beating expectations, although revenue fell 0.6% year-over-year to $1.72 billion.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 31.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,180 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 3,183 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $1,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of TROW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,286,393 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,414,931,000 after buying an additional 222,556 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 7.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,706,251 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $707,973,000 after acquiring an additional 519,075 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co grew its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 6,052,469 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $684,474,000 after acquiring an additional 425,142 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,397,819 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $271,169,000 after purchasing an additional 40,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,290,739 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $259,060,000 after purchasing an additional 208,304 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on TROW. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up from $91.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $101.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at T. Rowe Price Group

In other news, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 968 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total value of $93,876.64. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 13,611 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,319,994.78. The trade was a 6.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Dorothy C. Sawyer sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.43, for a total value of $190,860.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 44,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,274,214.27. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Trading Up 1.0%

TROW traded up $1.00 on Friday, hitting $105.06. 1,209,678 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,847,516. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $99.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.93. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a one year low of $77.85 and a one year high of $125.81. The firm has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.47.

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

T. Rowe Price Group 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.