Wells Fargo & Company MN Grows Position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 29.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 191,600 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 43,211 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.17% of StepStone Group worth $11,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 368.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,019 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,366,000 after purchasing an additional 88,095 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $388,000. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth about $355,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter worth about $941,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 438,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,359,000 after purchasing an additional 20,285 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on STEP shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 price target on StepStone Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on StepStone Group from $69.00 to $48.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Four equities 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 has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction 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 owns 110,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,757,300. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 $87,318. This trade represents a 27.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

StepStone Group Price Performance

NASDAQ STEP 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 has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.85 and a beta of 1.36. StepStone Group LP has a fifty-two week low of $34.91 and a fifty-two week high of $70.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $53.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.04.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. StepStone Group's payout ratio is -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.