Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 17.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,457,690 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 216,029 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $82,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 291.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in StepStone Group by 1,586.3% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 860 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in StepStone Group by 442.7% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in StepStone Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 190.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.85, for a total value of $50,191.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,578.30. This trade represents a 25.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO David Y. Park sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.21, for a total value of $204,630.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,251 shares in the company, valued at $1,381,320.71. This trade represents a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,820 shares of company stock worth $1,908,856. Corporate insiders own 18.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.64.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ STEP opened at $58.33 on Friday. StepStone Group LP has a one year low of $29.17 and a one year high of $70.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $62.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.22 and a beta of 1.27.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is 160.00%.

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.