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Is T. Rowe Price Institutional Large Cap Core (TPLGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Well, T. Rowe Price Institutional Large Cap Core (TPLGX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. TPLGX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

T. Rowe Price is responsible for TPLGX, and the company is based out of Baltimore, MD. The T. Rowe Price Institutional Large Cap Core made its debut in October of 2003 and TPLGX has managed to accumulate roughly $6.42 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Paul D. Greene II who has been in charge of the fund since October of 2021.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. TPLGX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.37% and is in the bottom third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 7.66%, which places it in the bottom third during this time-frame.

When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. TPLGX's standard deviation over the past three years is 22.59% compared to the category average of 22.12%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 20.28% compared to the category average of 19.83%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.08, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -1.77, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is largely on equities that are traded in the United States.

This fund is currently holding about 98.55% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $754.36 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Technology
  2. Retail Trade
Turnover is 40.4%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, TPLGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.57% compared to the category average of 0.99%. From a cost perspective, TPLGX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1 million and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, T. Rowe Price Institutional Large Cap Core ( TPLGX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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