Virtu Financial LLC Makes New $614,000 Investment in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,431 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $614,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in T. Rowe Price Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $104,000. Loudon Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the 4th quarter valued at $216,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the 4th quarter worth $2,279,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 64.6% in the 4th quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 7,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 2,859 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 93,003 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,440 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Arif Husain sold 4,112 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.27, for a total transaction of $449,318.24. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 36,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,021,136. The trade was a 10.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $126.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $118.00 to $116.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $113.00 price target (up from $111.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.09.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

Shares of TROW opened at $95.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $105.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.13. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a one year low of $91.37 and a one year high of $125.81.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm posted $1.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.27 per share. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.