Whittier Trust Co. Trims Holdings in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Whittier Trust Co. trimmed its position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 61.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,827 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,895 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,187,176 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $812,798,000 after purchasing an additional 346,369 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,515,198 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $598,801,000 after purchasing an additional 25,481 shares in the last quarter. Provident Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 2,611,294 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $295,311,000 after acquiring an additional 213,566 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,870,446 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $211,529,000 after acquiring an additional 8,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,717,877 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $194,064,000 after acquiring an additional 397,278 shares during the last quarter. 73.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $113.00 price objective (up previously from $111.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $113.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $126.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. 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 for the company in a research note 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.09.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TROW opened at $92.83 on Monday. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.37 and a 52-week high of $125.81. The company has a 50 day moving average of $106.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.23. The company has a market capitalization of $20.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.27 dividend. This is an increase from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.47%. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at T. Rowe Price Group

In other news, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total transaction of $449,318.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 36,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,021,136. This represents a 10.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.