Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 7,503 Shares of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 275,978 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,503 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of T. Rowe Price Group worth $30,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 15,056 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,736,000 after acquiring an additional 1,398 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 1.1% in the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 41,638 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,801,000 after buying an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in T. Rowe Price Group by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,277 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in T. Rowe Price Group by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 57,768 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,661,000 after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, F M Investments LLC acquired a new stake in T. Rowe Price Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,522,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.39% of the company’s stock.

T. Rowe Price Group Price Performance

Shares of TROW opened at $117.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50-day moving average is $117.63 and its 200-day moving average is $113.19. T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.49 and a fifty-two week high of $125.81.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.21. T. Rowe Price Group had a net margin of 30.35% and a return on equity of 20.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. T. Rowe Price Group’s payout ratio is 54.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrew Justin Mackenzi Thomson sold 4,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.35, for a total value of $499,197.45. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 119,577 shares in the company, valued at $14,749,822.95. This represents a 3.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on TROW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $106.00 to $102.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised T. Rowe Price Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.00.

About T. Rowe Price Group

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.