Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW)

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 3,137 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 151% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,249 put options.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

Shares of TROW traded down $7.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $112.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,752,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,213,339. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $111.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.08. T. Rowe Price Group has a one year low of $85.22 and a one year high of $122.00.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.05. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 28.28% and a return on equity of 20.60%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that T. Rowe Price Group will post 10.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. T. Rowe Price Group’s payout ratio is 55.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other T. Rowe Price Group news, VP Stephon A. Jackson sold 3,000 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.56, for a total value of $307,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 83,883 shares in the company, valued at $8,603,040.48. The trade was a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 548,644 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,375,000 after purchasing an additional 20,743 shares during the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 3.2% in the second quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC grew its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 28,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,261,000 after buying an additional 946 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 187.4% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 10,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 6,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC increased its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 0.6% in the second quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 15,914 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 73.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key T. Rowe Price Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting T. Rowe Price Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter adjusted earnings were $2.57 per share, above the $2.52 analyst consensus, while revenue reached $1.91 billion, exceeding estimates of $1.89 billion and rising 10.7% year over year. Earnings also increased from $2.24 per share in the prior-year quarter. T. Rowe Price Q2 Earnings Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Assets under management ended June at approximately $1.9 trillion, with average AUM up 15.7% year over year. Net operating income rose 13% to $540.5 million, and the company returned $441 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. T. Rowe Price Q2 Results and AUM
• Positive Sentiment: Management’s expansion into private markets and cryptocurrency could provide new growth opportunities and diversify T. Rowe Price’s traditional asset-management business, although the benefits remain longer term. T. Rowe Price’s Push Into Private Markets and Crypto
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts had mixed views ahead of the report, with revised forecasts reflecting expectations for higher earnings but no clear consensus on the stock’s valuation or outlook. Analyst Forecast Revisions
• Negative Sentiment: Net client outflows totaled $6.5 billion, highlighting ongoing difficulty retaining and attracting assets despite market-driven AUM growth. Operating expenses also increased 9.8% year over year.
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually heavy put-option activity—3,137 contracts, about 151% above average—suggested increased near-term hedging or bearish speculation. Separately, some brokerages maintain a “Reduce” consensus recommendation. Brokerage Reduce Recommendation

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on TROW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $107.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $103.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on T. Rowe Price Group in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore set a $121.00 price target on T. Rowe Price Group in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $105.08.

T. Rowe Price Group Company Profile

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc is a global investment management firm headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, founded by Thomas Rowe Price Jr. in 1937. The company provides a broad range of investment products and services for individual investors, financial intermediaries, retirement plan sponsors and institutional clients. Its offerings are built around active investment management and in-house research across equity, fixed income and multi-asset strategies, reflecting a long history as a research-driven asset manager.

The firm’s product lineup includes mutual funds, separate accounts, collective investment trusts, target-date and target-risk funds, and managed account solutions, as well as services for defined contribution and defined benefit retirement plans.