T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,640,000 shares, a growth of 29.2% from the February 28th total of 9,010,000 shares. Approximately 5.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,740,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.7 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total value of $449,318.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 36,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,021,136. This represents a 10.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On T. Rowe Price Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 866.7% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 348 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 6.6% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,839 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 794.1% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 15,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 14,103 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 61,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,725,000 after buying an additional 3,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 38,778 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,224,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock opened at $91.57 on Monday. T. Rowe Price Group has a twelve month low of $90.92 and a twelve month high of $125.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.00, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.92.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that T. Rowe Price Group will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $1.27 dividend. This is a boost from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.55%. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio is 55.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on TROW shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $113.00 price objective (up from $111.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $113.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.09.

T. Rowe Price Group Company 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.