T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) Stake Lessened by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. lessened its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 132,396 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 6,923 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $12,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter worth $117,704,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter worth $63,284,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 425,142 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,717,877 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $194,064,000 after acquiring an additional 397,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 28.2% during the fourth 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 worth $199,367,000 after acquiring an additional 387,604 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:TROW opened at $94.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.77 billion, a PE ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.49. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.85 and a 1 year high of $125.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $90.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.39.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.10. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 29.61% and a return on equity of 20.83%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.27 per share. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at T. Rowe Price Group

In other T. Rowe Price Group news, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total transaction of $93,876.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,611 shares in the company, valued at $1,319,994.78. This represents a 6.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert F. Maclellan sold 3,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.56, for a total transaction of $362,119.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 42,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,935,157.24. This trade represents a 8.43% 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TROW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $104.00 to $80.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $110.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.09.

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.