MCF Advisors LLC Grows Position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,226 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TROW. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 282,074 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,900,000 after acquiring an additional 59,559 shares during the last quarter. Martel Wealth Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the 4th quarter valued at $339,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 65.9% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 3,770 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares during the period. Finally, Eldred Rock Partners LLC grew its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Eldred Rock Partners LLC now owns 69,078 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,834,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Up 0.5 %

TROW stock opened at $113.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.80. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.49 and a twelve month high of $125.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.43.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.21. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 30.35% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.17 earnings per share. T. Rowe Price Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.36%. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.27%.

Insider Activity at T. Rowe Price Group

In related news, VP Andrew Justin Mackenzi Thomson sold 4,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 119,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,749,822.95. This represents a 3.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $124.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.82.

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.