QRG Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 31.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,658 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,182 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $5,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lafayette Investments Inc. boosted its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 85,810 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,735,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 1.7% during the first quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 128,016 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,130 shares during the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC increased its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 22.2% during the first quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 2,497 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC lifted its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 7.2% in the first quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 27,741 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 6.1% in the first quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 3,781 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TROW opened at $118.55 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.47. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a one year low of $85.22 and a one year high of $118.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.34.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The asset manager reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.15. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.60% and a net margin of 28.28%.The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. T. Rowe Price Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. T. Rowe Price Group’s payout ratio is 55.73%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Stephon A. Jackson sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.56, for a total transaction of $307,680.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 83,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,603,040.48. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TROW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised T. Rowe Price Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. TD Cowen increased their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore lifted their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $111.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $100.54.

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.