J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,301 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 186 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of TROW. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the fourth quarter valued at $573,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,414 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,905 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 139,319 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,756,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares during the period. Finally, PUREfi Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the fourth quarter valued at $257,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TROW opened at $108.36 on Thursday. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a one year low of $100.49 and a one year high of $125.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $113.31 and a 200-day moving average of $112.30. The company has a market capitalization of $24.07 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.44.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.20 by ($0.08). T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 29.61% and a return on equity of 20.91%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.27 per share. This is a positive change from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.15%.

Insider Activity

In other T. Rowe Price Group news, VP Andrew Justin Mackenzi Thomson sold 4,047 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.35, for a total transaction of $499,197.45. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 119,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,749,822.95. The trade was a 3.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of T. Rowe Price Group 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 in the company, valued at $4,021,136. The trade was a 10.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TROW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $113.00 price objective (up previously from $111.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $120.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays reduced their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $113.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.09.

T. Rowe Price Group 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.