Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $266,000 in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,467 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 22,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 83.5% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. 73.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $92.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $100.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com lowered T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.10.

Insider Transactions at T. Rowe Price Group

In related news, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 1,138 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total value of $121,913.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,113 shares in the company, valued at $1,511,925.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 1,138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total value of $121,913.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,113 shares in the company, valued at $1,511,925.69. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Freeman A. Hrabowski III sold 8,740 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.32, for a total transaction of $1,034,116.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,493,357.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,921 shares of company stock worth $1,500,133. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Up 0.2 %

TROW opened at $111.49 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $115.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.40. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.43 and a 12-month high of $132.76.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The asset manager reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.34. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 29.09%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. T. Rowe Price Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $1.24 dividend. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio is 58.91%.

T. Rowe Price Group 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.