Northern Trust Corp Increases Stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,290,739 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 208,304 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.03% of T. Rowe Price Group worth $259,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,063,837 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,947,559,000 after buying an additional 135,203 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,187,176 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $812,798,000 after purchasing an additional 346,369 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 6,052,469 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $684,474,000 after purchasing an additional 425,142 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,631,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $635,260,000 after purchasing an additional 116,231 shares during the period. Finally, Provident Trust Co. boosted its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 2,611,294 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $295,311,000 after purchasing an additional 213,566 shares during the last quarter. 73.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on TROW shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $105.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $104.00 to $80.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.00.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

Shares of TROW stock opened at $88.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.50. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.85 and a fifty-two week high of $125.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $92.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.30.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by ($0.08). T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 29.61%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.27 dividend. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.46%.

Insider Transactions at T. Rowe Price Group

In other T. Rowe Price Group news, Director Robert F. Maclellan sold 3,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.56, for a total value of $362,119.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 42,979 shares in the company, valued at $3,935,157.24. This trade represents a 8.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total value of $449,318.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 36,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,021,136. This represents a 10.05 % 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.

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.