Wells Fargo & Company MN Increases Position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,638,867 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,116 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $185,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of TROW. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in T. Rowe Price Group during the 4th quarter worth about $117,704,000. Amundi lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,717,877 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $194,064,000 after purchasing an additional 397,278 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,187,176 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $812,798,000 after purchasing an additional 346,369 shares during the last quarter. L.K. Benson & Company P.C. acquired a new stake in T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,643,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,332,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at T. Rowe Price Group

In related news, Director Robert F. Maclellan sold 3,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.56, for a total value of $362,119.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 42,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,935,157.24. This represents a 8.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total value of $449,318.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 36,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,021,136. This trade represents a 10.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on TROW shares. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $126.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com cut T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $113.00 target price (up from $111.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.50.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Down 4.2 %

NASDAQ TROW opened at $82.60 on Friday. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.34 and a 52-week high of $125.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $102.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.50.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.27 per share. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.15%. This is an increase from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. T. Rowe Price Group’s 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.