T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) Reaches New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Thursday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $85.00. Bank of America currently has an underperform rating on the stock. T. Rowe Price Group traded as low as $85.74 and last traded at $86.57, with a volume of 1184370 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $93.90.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on TROW. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $113.00 target price (up from $111.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $126.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $118.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, T. Rowe Price Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.58.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert F. Maclellan sold 3,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.56, for a total value of $362,119.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 42,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,935,157.24. The trade was a 8.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total transaction of $449,318.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 36,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,021,136. This trade represents 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On T. Rowe Price Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 67.4% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 231 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in T. Rowe Price Group in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 124.0% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 280 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 305 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 73.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $103.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.24 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 EPS. Analysts expect that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.27 dividend. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.87%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.46%.

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.