World Investment Advisors Acquires 904 Shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 34.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,558 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 904 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in T. Rowe Price Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in T. Rowe Price Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 73.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of TROW stock opened at $102.96 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $95.24 and a 200 day moving average of $99.44. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.85 and a 52 week high of $125.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.49.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.10. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 28.38%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $1.27 dividend. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. T. Rowe Price Group’s payout ratio is 57.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on TROW. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $116.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $110.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $95.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $104.00 to $80.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Dorothy C. Sawyer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.43, for a total value of $190,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 44,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,274,214.27. This trade represents a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.98, for a total value of $93,876.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,319,994.78. This represents a 6.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Profile

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.