O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 48.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,227 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,035 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of STEP. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,409,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,518,000 after buying an additional 297,989 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter worth $430,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter valued at $563,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 4th quarter valued at $11,543,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in StepStone Group by 464.2% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 27,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,619,000 after purchasing an additional 23,020 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In related news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,318. The trade was a 27.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 110,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,757,300. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

StepStone Group Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ STEP opened at $46.34 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $55.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.41. StepStone Group LP has a fifty-two week low of $34.64 and a fifty-two week high of $70.38. The firm has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of -27.42 and a beta of 1.36.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -56.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $69.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.21.

About StepStone Group

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.