Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 609,619 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,768 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.53% of StepStone Group worth $35,285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. US Bancorp DE raised its position in StepStone Group by 442.7% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new position in StepStone Group during the 3rd quarter worth $462,000. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in StepStone Group during the 3rd quarter worth $234,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in StepStone Group by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,840 shares of the company's stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in StepStone Group during the 3rd quarter worth $269,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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StepStone Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STEP traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $54.26. 128,231 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 600,450. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $59.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.99. StepStone Group LP has a 1 year low of $33.01 and a 1 year high of $70.38. The company has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a PE ratio of -32.11 and a beta of 1.33.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is currently -56.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.