StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 438,130 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,285 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $25,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in StepStone Group by 12.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,401,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,451,000 after buying an additional 265,240 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,457,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,856,000 after acquiring an additional 216,029 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in StepStone Group by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,999,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,310,000 after purchasing an additional 141,637 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 368.2% during 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 period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in StepStone Group by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 805,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,279,000 after purchasing an additional 85,904 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other StepStone Group news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 110,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,757,300. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $87,318. This represents a 27.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,629 shares of company stock worth $2,302,229 in the last ninety days. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

StepStone Group Stock Down 3.5 %

NASDAQ:STEP opened at $58.59 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $61.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.57. The firm has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.67 and a beta of 1.31. StepStone Group LP has a 52-week low of $32.58 and a 52-week high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently -56.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on 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 boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI increased 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 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, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.21.

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.