West Oak Capital LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

West Oak Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,125 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 355 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Union Savings Bank purchased a new stake in T. Rowe Price Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in T. Rowe Price Group in the third quarter worth $25,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 83.5% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in T. Rowe Price Group in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in T. Rowe Price Group during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 73.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

T. Rowe Price Group Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:TROW traded up $0.89 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $121.75. 244,251 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,410,778. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $112.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.55. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.43 and a 1 year high of $132.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.39.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 27.69%. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. T. Rowe Price Group’s payout ratio is 63.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. TD Cowen started coverage on T. Rowe Price Group in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $88.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $86.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $101.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $97.30.

Insider Transactions at T. Rowe Price Group

In related news, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 1,138 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $121,913.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,511,925.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other T. Rowe Price Group news, Director Freeman A. Hrabowski III sold 8,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.32, for a total transaction of $1,034,116.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,493,357.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 1,138 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $121,913.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,511,925.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.