Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 135,203 Shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,063,837 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 135,203 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.73% of T. Rowe Price Group worth $2,947,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 67.4% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 231 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 124.0% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 280 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 48.8% during the fourth quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 305 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 73.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at T. Rowe Price Group

In related news, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,021,136. This represents a 10.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

T. Rowe Price Group Trading Down 0.5 %

TROW opened at $95.47 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.13. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.37 and a 1-year high of $125.81. The stock has a market cap of $21.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $2.12 earnings per share 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 20.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.27 dividend. This is an increase from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.32%. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.46%.

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.