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

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large 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 daily volume of 1,740,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.7 days.

Insider Transactions at T. Rowe Price Group

In related news, Director Robert F. Maclellan sold 3,955 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.56, for a total value of $362,119.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,979 shares in the company, valued at $3,935,157.24. This trade represents a 8.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the firm's 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. The trade was a 10.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

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Institutional Trading of T. Rowe Price Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 75.5% in the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 5,509 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 275,978 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $30,062,000 after purchasing an additional 7,503 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,717,877 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $194,064,000 after buying an additional 397,278 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 357,556 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $40,436,000 after buying an additional 20,062 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 29,989 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,267,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. 73.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on TROW shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $103.00 to $89.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $113.00 to $105.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, T. Rowe Price Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.50.

T. Rowe Price Group Price Performance

Shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock traded down $7.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $86.89. 1,981,114 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,371,235. T. Rowe Price Group has a 12-month low of $85.76 and a 12-month high of $125.81. The stock has a market cap of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $103.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.62.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 29.61%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.27 per share. This is a positive change from T. Rowe Price Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.85%. T. Rowe Price Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.