T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) Shares Sold by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS trimmed its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 53.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 57,333 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $5,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TROW. Norges Bank acquired a new position in T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter worth $117,704,000. Amundi lifted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,717,877 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $194,064,000 after acquiring an additional 397,278 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,187,176 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $812,798,000 after purchasing an additional 346,369 shares during the last quarter. L.K. Benson & Company P.C. purchased a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter worth $36,643,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 382.1% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 398,175 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $43,373,000 after buying an additional 315,581 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TROW. StockNews.com lowered shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $113.00 price target (up from $111.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $118.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $126.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $113.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, T. Rowe Price Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.09.

T. Rowe Price Group Price Performance

Shares of TROW stock opened at $91.57 on Monday. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.92 and a 1-year high of $125.81. The firm has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50-day moving average of $104.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.92.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by ($0.08). T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 29.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $1.27 dividend. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. T. Rowe Price Group’s payout ratio is currently 55.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total transaction of $449,318.24. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 36,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,021,136. This represents a 10.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.