Ellsworth Advisors LLC Makes New $4.75 Million Investment in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 41,986 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $4,748,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,840,807 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $745,169,000 after purchasing an additional 231,286 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,515,198 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $598,801,000 after buying an additional 25,481 shares in the last quarter. Provident Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 2,397,728 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $261,185,000 after buying an additional 7,905 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,861,454 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $202,768,000 after acquiring an additional 47,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,635,519 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $188,592,000 after acquiring an additional 40,490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

Shares of TROW opened at $113.21 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s fifty day moving average is $117.71 and its 200 day moving average is $112.84. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.49 and a fifty-two week high of $125.81.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.21. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 30.35% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.17 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Justin Mackenzi Thomson sold 4,047 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 119,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,749,822.95. This trade represents a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TROW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $124.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, T. Rowe Price Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.82.

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.