Vontobel Holding Ltd. Raises Position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 67.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,706 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 7,544 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $1,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TROW. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $117,704,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in T. Rowe Price Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,284,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 6,052,469 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $684,474,000 after buying an additional 425,142 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,717,877 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $194,064,000 after buying an additional 397,278 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,762,910 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $199,367,000 after purchasing an additional 387,604 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.39% of the company's stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Up 0.8%

T. Rowe Price Group stock traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $99.74. The stock had a trading volume of 1,052,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,536,214. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.85 and a 52-week high of $125.81. The firm has a market cap of $21.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $94.69 and a 200 day moving average of $99.51.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 28.38% and a return on equity of 20.17%. T. Rowe Price Group's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 EPS for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $1.27 per share. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. T. Rowe Price Group's payout ratio is currently 57.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction of $190,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 44,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,274,214.27. This trade represents a 4.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total transaction of $93,876.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,611 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,319,994.78. The trade was a 6.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on TROW. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $104.00 to $80.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. 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 report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen cut their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $89.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $110.00 to $90.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, T. Rowe Price Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.91.

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.