T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. $TROW Position Trimmed by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 56.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,660 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 11,450 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in T. Rowe Price Group were worth $901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. First Command Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 6,390.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,661 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620 shares during the last quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 12.9% in the third quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,103 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 151,102 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,722,000 after purchasing an additional 3,324 shares in the last quarter. Letson Investment Management Inc. increased its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 6.6% in the third quarter. Letson Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,141 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC increased its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 47.7% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 14,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,483,000 after purchasing an additional 4,604 shares during the last quarter. 73.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

T. Rowe Price Group Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:TROW traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $108.93. 1,454,368 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,112,762. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $105.21 and its 200-day moving average is $103.87. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.22 and a 12-month high of $122.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a P/E/G ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.43.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The asset manager reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.63% and a net margin of 28.40%. T. Rowe Price Group’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 10.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 16th will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 16th. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.58%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Joshua Nelson sold 10,000 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.82, for a total transaction of $1,118,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 71,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,975,896.96. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TROW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $113.00 price objective (up from $112.00) on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank restated a “hold” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $102.83.

T. Rowe Price Group Company Profile

T. Rowe Price Group is a global investment management firm that provides investment products and related services to individuals, retirement plans, institutions and financial intermediaries. Founded in 1937 by Thomas Rowe Price Jr., the company is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The firm manages a range of investment strategies, including equity, fixed-income and multi-asset portfolios. Its offerings include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and separately managed accounts, as well as retirement-focused products and advisory services.