Commerce Bank Increases Stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Key Points

• Commerce Bank has increased its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 5.4%, owning 93,221 shares valued at approximately $8.56 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have also raised their stakes in T. Rowe Price, with Fayez Sarofim & Co. increasing their holdings by 7.6% and UBS Asset Management raising theirs by 28.2%.
• T. Rowe Price recently reported earnings that exceeded analysts' expectations, posting $2.24 per share against an estimate of $2.15, despite a 0.6% decline in revenue year-over-year.

Commerce Bank raised its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,221 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 4,781 shares during the period. Commerce Bank's holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $8,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of TROW. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 44.8% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 365 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in T. Rowe Price Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in T. Rowe Price Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in T. Rowe Price Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TROW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $95.00 price target (up previously from $91.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $101.09.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TROW traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $104.92. 74,510 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,830,096. The company has a fifty day moving average of $99.07 and a 200 day moving average of $98.27. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.85 and a 12 month high of $125.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.47.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $2.24 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 company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. The firm's revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $1.27 per share. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. T. Rowe Price Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other T. Rowe Price Group news, VP Dorothy C. Sawyer sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 968 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,319,994.78. The trade was a 6.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

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.