T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.34 EPS

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The asset manager reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.34, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 27.69%. T. Rowe Price Group’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share.

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Performance

T. Rowe Price Group stock traded up $5.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $114.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,436,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,433,009. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $115.00 and its 200 day moving average is $107.00. T. Rowe Price Group has a 1-year low of $87.43 and a 1-year high of $132.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.40.

T. Rowe Price Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from T. Rowe Price Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of T. Rowe Price Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised T. Rowe Price Group from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of T. Rowe Price Group from $94.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at T. Rowe Price Group

In related news, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 1,138 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $121,913.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 14,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,511,925.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Freeman A. Hrabowski III sold 8,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,493,357.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jessica M. Hiebler sold 1,138 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.13, for a total transaction of $121,913.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,511,925.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.