Franklin Resources Inc. Has $55.67 Million Position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 492,240 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 2,085 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of T. Rowe Price Group worth $55,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 310,160 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,076,000 after purchasing an additional 8,668 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 72,092 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,153,000 after acquiring an additional 16,999 shares in the last quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management boosted its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Saratoga Research & Investment Management now owns 2,736 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 17,103 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 179,957 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $20,351,000 after purchasing an additional 54,640 shares during the last quarter. 73.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TROW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $113.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $126.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $113.00 price target (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 report on Sunday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $103.00 to $89.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert F. Maclellan sold 3,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.56, for a total transaction of $362,119.80. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 36,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Down 4.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TROW opened at $82.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.36 billion, a PE ratio of 9.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $102.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.29. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.34 and a twelve month high of $125.81.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.20 by ($0.08). T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.83% and a net margin of 29.61%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $1.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.15%. T. Rowe Price Group’s payout ratio is 55.46%.

T. Rowe Price Group Company Profile

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.