StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its stake in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 194,916 shares of the company's stock after selling 26,040 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.17% of StepStone Group worth $11,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $850,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in StepStone Group by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 596,851 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,919,000 after purchasing an additional 84,762 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in StepStone Group by 129.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 81,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,627,000 after purchasing an additional 45,974 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 33,223 shares of the company's stock worth $1,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,999,819 shares of the company's stock worth $227,310,000 after purchasing an additional 141,637 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group 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 of the company's stock, valued at $6,757,300. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,318. The trade was a 27.96 % 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STEP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four investment 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 has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $69.21.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of STEP stock traded up $1.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $54.93. 59,623 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 631,201. StepStone Group LP has a 52-week low of $33.92 and a 52-week high of $70.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.50 and a beta of 1.33. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $58.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.11.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -56.80%.

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.