Banco Santander S.A. Cuts Stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Banco Santander S.A. lowered its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 93,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,850 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $10,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,975 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,995 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $904,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group in the 4th quarter valued at $252,000. Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 29,386 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,323,000 after acquiring an additional 5,720 shares during the period. Finally, Freestone Capital Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 21,865 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,473,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at T. Rowe Price Group

In other news, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total value of $449,318.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 36,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,021,136. This trade represents a 10.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Andrew Justin Mackenzi Thomson sold 4,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.35, for a total transaction of $499,197.45. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TROW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $113.00 price objective (up previously from $111.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $126.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com downgraded T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 2nd. Barclays dropped their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $113.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $118.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.09.

T. Rowe Price Group Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock opened at $100.66 on Friday. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $97.26 and a twelve month high of $125.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $110.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.09.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.20 by ($0.08). T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 29.61% and a return on equity of 20.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.27 dividend. This is an increase from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.