Korea Investment CORP Sells 23,500 Shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Korea Investment CORP decreased its stake in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 18.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 101,196 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 23,500 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $11,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,063,837 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,947,559,000 after purchasing an additional 135,203 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,187,176 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $812,798,000 after acquiring an additional 346,369 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 25,481 shares during the period. Provident Trust Co. increased its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 8.9% in 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 period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 0.5% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on TROW shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $118.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $113.00 price target (up previously from $111.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $126.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $113.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total value of $449,318.24. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 36,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,021,136. This trade represents a 10.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of TROW stock opened at $91.57 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $104.61 and a 200-day moving average of $110.92. The company has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.10 and a 52 week high of $125.81.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by ($0.08). T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 29.61%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $1.27 dividend. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.55%. This is a positive change from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. T. Rowe Price Group’s payout ratio is presently 55.46%.

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.