Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Invests $32.34 Million in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 558,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,340,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.49% of StepStone Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other news, 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 value of $614,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,000 shares in the company, valued at $6,757,300. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was 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 $87,318. This represents a 27.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.44% of the company's stock.

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StepStone Group Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of STEP traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $46.34. 478,627 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 657,136. The company has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of -27.42 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $55.08 and a 200 day moving average of $59.41. StepStone Group LP has a 1-year low of $34.64 and a 1-year high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STEP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on StepStone Group from $69.00 to $48.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer lifted 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. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.21.

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.