T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) Shares Acquired by Leelyn Smith LLC

Leelyn Smith LLC lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,304 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $2,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Argent Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 8,905 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 9,242 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC raised its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 7,685 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $869,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new position in T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter worth about $234,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

Shares of TROW stock opened at $94.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.37 and a fifty-two week high of $125.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $107.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.57.

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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.39%. This is a positive change from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on TROW shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $113.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $118.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $126.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $113.00 target price (up previously from $111.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.09.

Insider Activity

In other T. Rowe Price Group news, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total value of $449,318.24. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company 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.