3,280 Shares in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) Acquired by Optimize Financial Inc

Optimize Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 3,280 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $371,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TROW. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 67.4% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 231 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in T. Rowe Price Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its position 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 buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in T. Rowe Price Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. 73.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total transaction 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 $4,021,136. The trade was a 10.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert F. Maclellan sold 3,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.56, for a total transaction of $362,119.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,979 shares in the company, valued at $3,935,157.24. This represents a 8.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ TROW opened at $88.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.69, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.16. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.85 and a fifty-two week high of $125.81.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 29.61% and a return on equity of 20.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.72%. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio is 55.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on TROW shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $116.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $113.00 price objective (up from $111.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley cut 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 research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $104.00 to $80.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, T. Rowe Price Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.00.

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.