T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) Short Interest Up 18.6% in June

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,260,000 shares, an increase of 18.6% from the May 31st total of 8,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.1 days. Approximately 4.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at T. Rowe Price Group

In other news, Director Robert F. Maclellan sold 3,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.08, for a total transaction of $344,102.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,916,525.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Robert F. Maclellan sold 3,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.08, for a total transaction of $344,102.44. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,916,525.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Dorothy C. Sawyer sold 2,000 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.00, for a total transaction of $234,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 34,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,061,070. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,444 shares of company stock valued at $740,408. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On T. Rowe Price Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Park Place Capital Corp raised its position in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 1,775.0% in the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in T. Rowe Price Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in T. Rowe Price Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 73.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $100.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $112.10.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TROW opened at $113.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $114.98 and a 200 day moving average of $112.92. T. Rowe Price Group has a 52 week low of $87.43 and a 52 week high of $132.76.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The asset manager reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 29.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that T. Rowe Price Group will post 8.84 EPS for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.91%.

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.