CenterBook Partners LP Invests $1.18 Million in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 20,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,179,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 964.8% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 53,400 shares of the company's stock worth $3,046,000 after purchasing an additional 48,385 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 28.7% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 41,916 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,382,000 after purchasing an additional 9,357 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in StepStone Group by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,401,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,451,000 after purchasing an additional 265,240 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 118,134 shares of the company's stock worth $6,713,000 after acquiring an additional 9,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in StepStone Group by 368.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,019 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,366,000 after purchasing an additional 88,095 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

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

StepStone Group Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ STEP traded down $0.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $46.86. 86,739 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 655,846. The firm has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.73 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.28. StepStone Group LP has a 1-year low of $34.64 and a 1-year high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given 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 dividend yield of 2.05%. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -56.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Barclays lowered their price target on StepStone Group from $69.00 to $48.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, StepStone Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.21.

StepStone Group Profile

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.