StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 43.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 417,845 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 126,315 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.36% of StepStone Group worth $23,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 291.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 1,586.3% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 860 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in StepStone Group by 442.7% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in StepStone Group during the third quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in StepStone Group by 190.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $66.64.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 686,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,108,653. The trade was a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,820 shares of company stock valued at $1,908,856. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

StepStone Group Price Performance

STEP traded up $0.67 on Thursday, reaching $60.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 220,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 585,090. StepStone Group LP has a 1 year low of $30.46 and a 1 year high of $70.38. The business's 50 day moving average is $62.75 and its 200 day moving average is $55.14. The stock has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.55 and a beta of 1.27.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 160.00%.

StepStone Group 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.