T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $112.67.

TROW has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of T. Rowe Price Group from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $106.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Down 2.0 %

TROW opened at $108.83 on Friday. T. Rowe Price Group has a twelve month low of $87.43 and a twelve month high of $132.76. The company has a market cap of $24.34 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $115.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.00.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.12. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 27.69% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. T. Rowe Price Group’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that T. Rowe Price Group will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. This is a positive change from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 1,138 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total value of $121,913.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,511,925.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other T. Rowe Price Group news, Director Freeman A. Hrabowski III sold 8,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.32, for a total transaction of $1,034,116.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,493,357.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 1,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $121,913.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,113 shares in the company, valued at $1,511,925.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TROW. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in T. Rowe Price Group during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 83.5% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 1,775.0% in the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 73.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.