Econ Financial Services Corp Acquires New Stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW

Econ Financial Services Corp acquired a new stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 19,214 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,967,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in T. Rowe Price Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 317 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 73.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ TROW opened at $90.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.54. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.52. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.85 and a 52-week high of $118.22.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The asset manager reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.47 by ($0.03). T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 28.53% and a return on equity of 20.29%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. T. Rowe Price Group’s payout ratio is currently 56.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on TROW shares. Barclays set a $94.00 price objective on T. Rowe Price Group in a report on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Argus upgraded T. Rowe Price Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $115.00 to $110.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $108.00 to $106.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, T. Rowe Price Group presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $101.69.

About T. Rowe Price Group

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.