T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) has been the topic of much discussion among investment analysts in recent months. A recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission showed that Stephens Inc. AR decreased its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 41.1% in Q4, selling 13,237 shares during the quarter and owning 18,991 shares worth $2,071,000 at the end of the quarter.
Despite this decrease in holdings, T. Rowe Price Group has been making headlines with their quarterly earnings data. The asset manager reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for Q4, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.02 and bringing in revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter.
While this news may seem positive on the surface, a number of research firms have recently issued reports on TROW which may suggest otherwise. StockNews.com initiated coverage on T.Rowe Price Group with a “hold” rating on March 16th while TheStreet lowered their rating to a “c” from a “b-” at the end of January.
BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of TROW from $105 to $90 and set a “market perform” rating for the company while Bank of America lowered their target price from $78 to $72 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in early March.
Credit Suisse Group also cut their price target from $70 to $65 and set an “underperform” rating for T.Rowe Price Group at the end of January which gives it a current consensus rating among analysts as a ‘Hold’ with a consensus target price hovering around just under $97 according to Bloomberg data.
In light of these varying reports and opinions on T.Rowe Price Group’s overall financial health it remains unclear what factors may come into play in the near future for the company’s growth and investment potential. Investors will undoubtedly continue monitoring T. Rowe Price Group, keeping a watchful eye on their latest earnings figures and any further developments which may impact the current trajectory of the asset manager’s stock performance.
Influx of Institutional Investors and Hedge Funds in T. Rowe Price Group Inc Raises Interest Among Shareholders
T. Rowe Price Group Inc, a leading asset management firm, has seen an influx of hedge funds and institutional investors buy or reduce their stakes in the company over recent months. Zullo Investment Group, Oakworth Capital, Eisler Capital UK and Asset Dedication LLC all increased their positions in T. Rowe Price Group over the past quarter, while Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd acquired shares for the first time at the end of 2017. The company is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds that account for 76.58% of its stock value.
T.Rowe Price Group opened on NASDAQ at $109.22 last Friday with a market capitalisation of $24.52 billion and a P/E ratio of 16.33 which indicates that shares are valued relatively cheaply compared to the industry average. The company’s price-to-earnings-growth ratio is at 2.76 with a beta of 1.30, reflecting significantly greater volatility than the overall market due to its high sensitivity to systematic market risk.
Despite lagging profits between Q4’15 and Q3’16, recent shareholder reports indicate better prospects with low risk after several new acquisitions have been purchased recently including hundreds of shares from Mitsubishi UFJ Securities USA Inc for $43m in January alone.
However, research firms such as Credit Suisse Group decreased their price target on shares from $70 to $65 while Bank of America lowered theirs from $78 to $72 deeming it an “underperform” rating since it struggles with six sell ratings amid only six holds which reveal that investor sentiment largely favours divestment.
The T.Rowe Price Group announced a dividend increase from $1.20 per share per quarter record on March 15th highlighted promising news for potential investors looking into stable dividends transactions in future resulting in financial growth of investments at about 4%.
Notable activities associated with insider trading disclosed senior vice-president, Andrew C. McCormick has sold 14,154 shares of T.Rowe Price Group’s stock in various transactions between February 21 till March 30th, indicating that he is possibly waiting for a better price entry point. Financial analysts can debate whether they consider the company an attractive investment given these insiders’ trade selling but this by itself should not alter one’s long-term approach to investing.
