Short Interest in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) Increases By 19.2%

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) saw a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,810,000 shares, a growth of 19.2% from the August 31st total of 9,910,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,110,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.6 days. Approximately 5.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

Shares of TROW stock opened at $109.51 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.41. T. Rowe Price Group has a one year low of $87.43 and a one year high of $122.27. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.94.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The asset manager reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.27 by ($0.01). T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 28.66%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. T. Rowe Price Group’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that T. Rowe Price Group will post 8.96 EPS for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.53%. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.91%.

Insider Activity at T. Rowe Price Group

In other news, VP Andrew Justin Mackenzi Thomson sold 11,969 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.83, for a total transaction of $1,230,772.27. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 123,624 shares in the company, valued at $12,712,255.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other T. Rowe Price Group news, VP Andrew Justin Mackenzi Thomson sold 11,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.83, for a total transaction of $1,230,772.27. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 123,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,712,255.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 484 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.73, for a total value of $50,689.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,459,831.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On T. Rowe Price Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TROW. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in T. Rowe Price Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $671,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 85,412 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,198,000 after acquiring an additional 5,068 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 389.2% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 145,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,635,000 after acquiring an additional 115,509 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 97,874 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,540,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 10,863.6% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,618 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 3,585 shares during the period. 73.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TROW shares. TD Cowen decreased their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $123.00 to $118.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $99.00 target price 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 Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (down from $121.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Three 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.30.

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.