Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 14,340 Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 105,480 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,340 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.09% of StepStone Group worth $6,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of STEP. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in StepStone Group in the 2nd quarter worth $633,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 399.3% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,024 shares of the company's stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 9,616 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 291.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 190.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 22,547 shares of the company's stock worth $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 3,873 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays increased their price target on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.24, for a total value of $1,397,034.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 157,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,986,165.16. This trade represents a 12.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 4,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.25, for a total value of $257,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 686,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,108,653. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 18.44% of the company's stock.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of StepStone Group stock traded up $1.53 during trading on Friday, reaching $62.47. 398,473 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 479,959. The company has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.96 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.92. StepStone Group LP has a 52-week low of $32.58 and a 52-week high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. StepStone Group's payout ratio is -56.80%.

StepStone Group Company 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.