EAM Investors LLC Sells 51,785 Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

EAM Investors LLC lessened its position in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 52.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,415 shares of the company's stock after selling 51,785 shares during the period. EAM Investors LLC's holdings in StepStone Group were worth $2,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Amundi grew its position in StepStone Group by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in StepStone Group by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other StepStone Group news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $33,894.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,318. The trade was a 27.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,757,300. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 18.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on STEP. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 price objective on StepStone Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $69.00 to $48.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.64.

StepStone Group Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP traded up $1.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $46.42. 46,014 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 610,689. The business's 50 day moving average is $53.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of -27.47 and a beta of 1.36. StepStone Group LP has a one year low of $34.91 and a one year high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group's payout ratio is -56.80%.

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.