T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) Short Interest Down 14.2% in December

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,260,000 shares, a decline of 14.2% from the December 15th total of 11,960,000 shares. Approximately 4.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $124.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.00.

T. Rowe Price Group Price Performance

T. Rowe Price Group stock traded down $1.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $112.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 258,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,264,913. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $118.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.86. T. Rowe Price Group has a 12 month low of $100.49 and a 12 month high of $125.81. The stock has a market cap of $24.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.43.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.21. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.35% and a net margin of 30.35%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.17 EPS. T. Rowe Price Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that T. Rowe Price Group will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.42%. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.27%.

Insider Transactions at T. Rowe Price Group

In other news, VP Andrew Justin Mackenzi Thomson sold 4,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.35, for a total transaction of $499,197.45. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 119,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,749,822.95. This represents a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On T. Rowe Price Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insight Folios Inc boosted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,612 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Keystone Financial Services grew its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 1,885 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC boosted its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 4,496 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC lifted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 497 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

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.