National Pension Service Increases Stock Position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW

National Pension Service boosted its position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 619,524 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,175 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.29% of T. Rowe Price Group worth $70,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 10,632.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 45,287,275 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,148,710,000 after acquiring an additional 44,865,323 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the second quarter worth about $2,728,119,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 332.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,770,071 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $897,880,000 after purchasing an additional 6,740,172 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 126.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,280,854 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $335,894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in T. Rowe Price Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $183,130,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on TROW shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded T. Rowe Price Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. UBS Group set a $110.00 price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $106.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Joshua Nelson sold 10,000 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.82, for a total transaction of $1,118,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 71,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,975,896.96. This trade represents a 12.30% 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. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:TROW opened at $106.29 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $113.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.36. The company has a market capitalization of $22.67 billion, a PE ratio of 10.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 1.46. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.22 and a 1-year high of $122.00.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.05. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 29.26% and a return on equity of 20.91%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.24 EPS. T. Rowe Price Group’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 10.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.16%.

About T. Rowe Price Group

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc is a global investment management firm headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1937 by Thomas Rowe Price Jr., the company provides investment management, advisory and related services to individual investors, retirement plans, institutions, financial intermediaries and other clients.

The company offers a broad range of investment products and strategies, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts and institutional portfolios.