T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW Shares Purchased by Mediolanum International Funds Ltd

Key Points

• Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its T. Rowe Price Group stake by 25.5% in the first quarter, owning 134,357 shares worth about $11.96 million after the purchase.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: recent ratings were mixed, with one upgrade to strong-buy but several hold/sell calls, and MarketBeat shows an overall consensus rating of “Reduce” with a $103.42 price target.
• T. Rowe Price reported solid results and a dividend, posting Q1 earnings of $2.52 per share versus $2.37 expected and paying a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, equal to a 4.4% annual yield.

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 25.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,357 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 27,263 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd owned about 0.06% of T. Rowe Price Group worth $11,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TROW. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake 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 valued at $1,728,000 after acquiring an additional 5,467 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 10.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 13,054 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 44.8% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in T. Rowe Price Group in the second quarter worth about $931,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 5.4% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,245 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TROW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $107.00 to $91.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $107.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, T. Rowe Price Group presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $103.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Stephon A. Jackson sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.56, for a total transaction of $307,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 83,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,603,040.48. This trade represents a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

T. Rowe Price Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:TROW opened at $117.35 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $108.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.30. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $85.22 and a 52-week high of $121.17. The firm has a market cap of $25.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 1.47.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The asset manager reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 28.28% and a return on equity of 20.60%. T. Rowe Price Group's revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 10.07 EPS for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. T. Rowe Price Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.73%.

T. Rowe Price Group Company Profile

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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