Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 222,556 Shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 0.9%, acquiring an additional 222,556 shares, bringing its total ownership to 26,286,393 shares valued at approximately $2.41 billion.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Fayez Sarofim & Co and Invesco Ltd., have also raised their positions in T. Rowe Price Group, indicating growing confidence among larger investors.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on T. Rowe Price Group, with a consensus target price of $101.09 and majority ratings as "Hold," while some firms have set lower price targets or sell ratings.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,286,393 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 222,556 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.93% of T. Rowe Price Group worth $2,414,931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 6,052,469 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $684,474,000 after purchasing an additional 425,142 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 1.7% in the 4th 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. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 10.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 28.2% in the 4th 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 valued at $199,367,000 after purchasing an additional 387,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,743,305 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $197,168,000 after purchasing an additional 15,864 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $95.00 target price (up from $91.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $101.09.

Insider Activity

In other T. Rowe Price Group 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Dorothy C. Sawyer sold 2,000 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.43, for a total value of $190,860.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 44,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,274,214.27. This represents a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock opened at $105.06 on Friday. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.85 and a 12 month high of $125.81. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.14. The stock has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.47.

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

T. Rowe Price Group Company 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.

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