T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,260,000 shares, a drop of 14.2% from the December 15th total of 11,960,000 shares. Currently, 4.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on TROW shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $102.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $116.00 to $111.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $124.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $120.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.00.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ TROW traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $112.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 258,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,264,913. T. Rowe Price Group has a 1 year low of $100.49 and a 1 year high of $125.81. The company has a market capitalization of $24.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $118.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.86.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 30.35% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.17 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that T. Rowe Price Group will post 9.46 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at T. Rowe Price Group

In other T. Rowe Price Group news, VP Andrew Justin Mackenzi Thomson sold 4,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.35, for a total value of $499,197.45. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 119,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,749,822.95. This represents a 3.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of T. Rowe Price Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TROW. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 90.9% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 231 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 54.7% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 294 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 866.7% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 348 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 73.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.