Quantbot Technologies LP Invests $3.73 Million in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 64,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,727,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. FMR LLC increased 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 worth $227,310,000 after purchasing an additional 141,637 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 12.4% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 17.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,457,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,856,000 after buying an additional 216,029 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in StepStone Group by 11.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 805,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,279,000 after acquiring an additional 85,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,163,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $614,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,000 shares in the company, valued at $6,757,300. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $33,894.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,318. The trade was a 27.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

StepStone Group Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of StepStone Group stock opened at $53.87 on Friday. 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 simple moving average of $59.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -56.80%.

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.