Empowered Funds LLC Sells 7,858 Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Empowered Funds LLC trimmed its position in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,140 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,858 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.08% of StepStone Group worth $5,179,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. American International Group Inc. increased its position in StepStone Group by 1.2% during the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 27,152 shares of the company's stock worth $970,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in StepStone Group by 291.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in StepStone Group by 35.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,840 shares of the company's stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in StepStone Group by 442.7% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP traded down $0.24 during trading on Monday, reaching $64.76. The stock had a trading volume of 377,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 575,520. StepStone Group LP has a 52 week low of $25.06 and a 52 week high of $70.38. The business's 50-day moving average price is $59.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a PE ratio of 108.34 and a beta of 1.27.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 160.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on STEP. Evercore ISI raised their price target on StepStone Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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, UBS Group lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.43.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.85, for a total value of $50,191.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $148,578.30. This trade represents a 25.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO David Y. Park sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.21, for a total transaction of $204,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,381,320.71. This represents a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.