Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 797,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,163,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.69% of StepStone Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in StepStone Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new stake in StepStone Group in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Amundi increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 36.6% during the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on STEP shares. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 price target on StepStone Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays cut 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, April 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, StepStone Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.64.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $33,894.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,318. This trade represents a 27.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. 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 $0.29 on Friday, reaching $47.06. The company had a trading volume of 366,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 660,569. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $53.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.04. StepStone Group LP has a 1 year low of $34.91 and a 1 year high of $70.38. The firm has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.85 and a beta of 1.36.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is currently -56.80%.

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.