Citigroup Inc. Grows Holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 129.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,414 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 45,974 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.07% of StepStone Group worth $4,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of STEP. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 13.4% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 397,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,577,000 after buying an additional 46,912 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 worth $33,919,000 after acquiring an additional 84,762 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in StepStone Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $850,000. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 112,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,410,000 after buying an additional 5,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in StepStone Group by 0.9% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 127,742 shares of the company's stock worth $7,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STEP traded down $1.95 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $62.85. The company had a trading volume of 622,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 570,355. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.75 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.06.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group's payout ratio is 160.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STEP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group boosted 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 raised their price target on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.36.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In related news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.85, for a total transaction of $50,191.65. Following 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO David Y. Park sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 20,251 shares in the company, valued at $1,381,320.71. This represents a 12.90 % 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.

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.