Blair William & Co. IL Acquires 23,020 Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 464.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,979 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 23,020 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in StepStone Group were worth $1,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of STEP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 16.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 596,851 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,919,000 after acquiring an additional 84,762 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 129.7% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 81,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,627,000 after purchasing an additional 45,974 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 33,223 shares of the company's stock worth $1,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 3.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,999,819 shares of the company's stock worth $227,310,000 after purchasing an additional 141,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 15.8% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 35,418 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,013,000 after purchasing an additional 4,825 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of STEP traded down $7.89 on Thursday, reaching $47.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 813,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 635,409. StepStone Group LP has a 12-month low of $34.01 and a 12-month high of $70.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.24 and a beta of 1.33. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $58.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.08.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is currently -56.80%.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $614,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 110,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,757,300. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $33,894.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,318. The trade was a 27.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on STEP. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $69.21.

About StepStone Group

StepStone Group Inc is a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in direct, fund of funds, secondary direct, and secondary indirect investments. For direct investment, it seeks to invest in private debt, venture debt, incubation, mezzanine, distressed/vulture, seed/startup, early venture, mid venture, late venture, emerging growth, later stage, turnaround, growth capital, industry consolidation, recapitalization, buyout investments in mature and middle market companies.