Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 126,315 Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted 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 and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 417,845 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 126,315 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.38% of StepStone Group worth $23,746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 25.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,115,384 shares of the company's stock worth $51,185,000 after buying an additional 225,201 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in StepStone Group by 150.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 850,463 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,396,000 after purchasing an additional 510,283 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in StepStone Group by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 800,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,753,000 after purchasing an additional 60,339 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 288,459 shares of the company's stock worth $10,309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in StepStone Group by 101.5% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 150,528 shares of the company's stock worth $6,908,000 after buying an additional 75,824 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $51.50 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $51.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.43.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of STEP stock traded up $0.98 on Thursday, hitting $65.10. 251,199 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 574,338. The company has a 50 day moving average of $58.98 and a 200 day moving average of $50.19. The stock has a market cap of $7.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.35 and a beta of 1.27. StepStone Group LP has a 12 month low of $25.06 and a 12 month high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 160.00%.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,578.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.85, for a total value of $50,191.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $148,578.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO David Y. Park sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.21, for a total transaction of $204,630.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,251 shares in the company, valued at $1,381,320.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is 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.