Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $941,000 in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 16,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of STEP. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP opened at $53.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.88 and a beta of 1.33. StepStone Group LP has a 1-year low of $33.90 and a 1-year high of $70.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.92.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STEP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $614,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,000 shares in the company, valued at $6,757,300. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,318. This 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 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.