D.A. Davidson & CO. Takes Position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 22,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,281,000 after purchasing an additional 3,873 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in StepStone Group by 1,586.3% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 15.6% in the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 30,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,100 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the third quarter worth approximately $412,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 33,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,000 after acquiring an additional 2,797 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STEP has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.21.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $614,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,757,300. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $33,894.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,318. The trade was a 27.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,629 shares of company stock valued at $2,302,229 in the last 90 days. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

StepStone Group Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of StepStone Group stock opened at $59.09 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.80. The stock has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a PE ratio of -34.96 and a beta of 1.31. StepStone Group LP has a 12-month low of $32.58 and a 12-month high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -56.80%.

StepStone Group Company 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.