T. Rowe Price Group Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:TROW)

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 3,137 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 151% compared to the average daily volume of 1,249 put options.

T. Rowe Price Group News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting T. Rowe Price Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter adjusted earnings were $2.57 per share, above the $2.52 analyst consensus, while revenue reached $1.91 billion, exceeding estimates of $1.89 billion and rising 10.7% year over year. Earnings also increased from $2.24 per share in the prior-year quarter. T. Rowe Price Q2 Earnings Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Assets under management ended June at approximately $1.9 trillion, with average AUM up 15.7% year over year. Net operating income rose 13% to $540.5 million, and the company returned $441 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. T. Rowe Price Q2 Results and AUM
• Positive Sentiment: Management’s expansion into private markets and cryptocurrency could provide new growth opportunities and diversify T. Rowe Price’s traditional asset-management business, although the benefits remain longer term. T. Rowe Price’s Push Into Private Markets and Crypto
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts had mixed views ahead of the report, with revised forecasts reflecting expectations for higher earnings but no clear consensus on the stock’s valuation or outlook. Analyst Forecast Revisions
• Negative Sentiment: Net client outflows totaled $6.5 billion, highlighting ongoing difficulty retaining and attracting assets despite market-driven AUM growth. Operating expenses also increased 9.8% year over year.
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually heavy put-option activity—3,137 contracts, about 151% above average—suggested increased near-term hedging or bearish speculation. Separately, some brokerages maintain a “Reduce” consensus recommendation. Brokerage Reduce Recommendation

T. Rowe Price Group Stock Down 6.0%

Shares of TROW traded down $7.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $112.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,752,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,213,339. The company has a market cap of $24.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a fifty day moving average of $111.60 and a 200 day moving average of $102.08. T. Rowe Price Group has a 1 year low of $85.22 and a 1 year high of $122.00.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ:TROW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. T. Rowe Price Group had a return on equity of 20.60% and a net margin of 28.28%.T. Rowe Price Group’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.24 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that T. Rowe Price Group will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year.

T. Rowe Price Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. T. Rowe Price Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TROW. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on T. Rowe Price Group from $108.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research raised T. Rowe Price Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays upped their target price on T. Rowe Price Group from $89.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on T. Rowe Price Group from $98.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Evercore set a $121.00 price objective on T. Rowe Price Group in a report on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $105.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other T. Rowe Price Group news, VP Stephon A. Jackson sold 3,000 shares of T. Rowe Price Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.56, for a total value of $307,680.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 83,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,603,040.48. The trade was a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of T. Rowe Price Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 41.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 18,809 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,728,000 after buying an additional 5,467 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 10.6% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 13,054 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of T. Rowe Price Group by 44.8% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,546 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $149,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in T. Rowe Price Group during the second quarter valued at $931,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in T. Rowe Price Group by 5.4% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,245 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703 shares in the last quarter. 73.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About T. Rowe Price Group

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc is a global investment management firm headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, founded by Thomas Rowe Price Jr. in 1937. The company provides a broad range of investment products and services for individual investors, financial intermediaries, retirement plan sponsors and institutional clients. Its offerings are built around active investment management and in-house research across equity, fixed income and multi-asset strategies, reflecting a long history as a research-driven asset manager.

The firm’s product lineup includes mutual funds, separate accounts, collective investment trusts, target-date and target-risk funds, and managed account solutions, as well as services for defined contribution and defined benefit retirement plans.