T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW Shares Sold by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. cut its T. Rowe Price Group stake by 54.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 20,657 shares and ending with 17,431 shares worth about $1.785 million.
• Analysts remain cautious on TROW: the consensus rating is “Reduce,” with 11 Hold ratings and four Sell ratings, and an average price target of $99.54.
• The company posted solid results and a dividend, reporting Q1 EPS of $2.52 versus $2.37 expected, along with a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share that implies a 5.0% annual yield.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lowered its stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 54.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,431 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 20,657 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $1,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TROW. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,276 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC lifted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 14,351 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,469,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter valued at $4,974,000. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension acquired a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter valued at $22,599,000. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 15,543 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,591,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $100.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Evercore lowered their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $85.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $105.00 price target on T. Rowe Price Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $99.54.

T. Rowe Price Group Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ TROW opened at $104.50 on Thursday. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.22 and a 12-month high of $118.22. The company has a market cap of $22.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.51. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $96.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.20.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The asset manager reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.15. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.60% and a net margin of 28.28%.The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.23 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. T. Rowe Price Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Stephon A. Jackson sold 3,000 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.56, for a total transaction of $307,680.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

T. Rowe Price Group 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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