=T. Rowe Price (TROW) reported earnings on Tue 25 April 2017 (b/o)

T. Rowe Price Group Inc. reported a profit of $385.9 million in the first three months of the year, up 27 percent from the January-through-March period last year.

Earnings per share at the Baltimore-based investment management company rose to $1.54, up 36 cents compared to the first quarter of 2016.

The results were buoyed by a $50 million one-time gain from an insurance recovery related to the firm's decision to compensate some investors for a botched vote on Dell Inc.'s sale.

Backing out such non-recurring gains, per-share earnings were $1.18, which fell just short of analyst estimates of $1.20, according to eight analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research.

Perhaps reflecting that disappointment, T. Rowe's stock closed Tuesday down 4.19 percent at $69.59 a share.

T. Rowe reported revenue of $1.1 billion, up 12 percent from $994.1 million for the same period last year. Investment advisory fees rose almost 14 percent, to $991.1 million.

T. Rowe had $861.6 billion in assets under management at the end of March.

Excluding the impact of the insurance recovery, operating expenses rose 10 percent, to $641.9 million from the same period in 2015.

Because markets have been strong, T. Rowe said it plans to spend more to accelerate spending on strategic initiatives, such as creating new investment products, expanding distribution capabilities and using technology to improve client experience.

Such initiatives are aimed at diversifying business outside the United States, Stromberg said, as investors in U.S. equity markets continue to pull money from actively managed funds in favor of passive investments.