HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 2,915 Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,485 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,915 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $2,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 368.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,366,000 after acquiring an additional 88,095 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at $388,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at $941,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 4.9% in the fourth 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. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 17.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,457,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,856,000 after purchasing an additional 216,029 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on STEP. Barclays lifted their price target on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.21.

StepStone Group Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of STEP stock opened at $53.87 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $59.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.92. StepStone Group LP has a 12-month low of $33.90 and a 12-month high of $70.38. The firm has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.88 and a beta of 1.33.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -56.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $614,300.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. 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 StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $33,894.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,318. This represents a 27.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 18.44% of the company’s stock.

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.