First Merchants Corp Sells 26,328 Shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

First Merchants Corp lessened its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Free Report) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,308 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 26,328 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp's holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $2,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TROW. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in T. Rowe Price Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $150,000. Roundview Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,092,000. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 75.9% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 27,065 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,092,000 after buying an additional 11,675 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 5.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,158,038 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $175,099,000 after acquiring an additional 60,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC raised its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 47.1% during the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 12,117 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,832,000 after acquiring an additional 3,880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on TROW shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $101.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. UBS Group upped their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $86.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, TD Cowen raised T. Rowe Price Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the company from $92.00 to $114.00 in a report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, T. Rowe Price Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.33.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TROW traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $117.55. 956,604 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,384,764. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a one year low of $87.43 and a one year high of $132.76. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $113.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.29 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.40.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 27.69% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from T. Rowe Price Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. T. Rowe Price Group's payout ratio is currently 63.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Freeman A. Hrabowski III sold 8,740 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.32, for a total value of $1,034,116.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,493,357.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 1,138 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total value of $121,913.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,113 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,511,925.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Freeman A. Hrabowski III sold 8,740 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.32, for a total value of $1,034,116.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,493,357.36. 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.