HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Stake in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 964.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,400 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 48,385 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in StepStone Group were worth $3,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in StepStone Group by 291.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 1,586.3% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 860 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in StepStone Group by 442.7% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in StepStone Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 190.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 777 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on STEP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.64.

StepStone Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:STEP traded down $0.06 on Friday, reaching $61.95. The stock had a trading volume of 641,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 581,589. StepStone Group LP has a 12-month low of $28.35 and a 12-month high of $70.38. The company has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.25 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's fifty day moving average is $62.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.11.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 160.00%.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.85, for a total transaction of $50,191.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $148,578.30. The trade was a 25.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 157,909 shares in the company, valued at $9,986,165.16. This trade represents a 12.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,820 shares of company stock worth $1,908,856 over the last quarter. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.