Exeter Financial LLC Raises Position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Exeter Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,807 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,490 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Group accounts for about 1.3% of Exeter Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $2,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the second quarter worth about $401,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 270,738 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,219,000 after purchasing an additional 24,075 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 119,032 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,697,000 after purchasing an additional 18,949 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 28.0% in the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,106 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $467,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Justin Mackenzi Thomson sold 4,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.35, for a total value of $499,197.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 119,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,749,822.95. This represents a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TROW shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of 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. StockNews.com cut shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $102.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, T. Rowe Price Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.55.

T. Rowe Price Group Trading Up 1.9 %

T. Rowe Price Group stock opened at $110.63 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.88. The stock has a market cap of $24.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.43. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.49 and a 12-month high of $125.81.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.21. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 30.35%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.17 EPS. T. Rowe Price Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.48%. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.27%.

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.