Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Purchases Shares of 558,738 StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 558,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,340,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.49% of StepStone Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of STEP. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in StepStone Group by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,508,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,341,000 after acquiring an additional 50,976 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 871,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,455,000 after purchasing an additional 66,523 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 6,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,409,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,518,000 after buying an additional 297,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, L & S Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the 4th quarter worth about $430,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP opened at $43.90 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.98 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.00. StepStone Group LP has a 1 year low of $34.64 and a 1 year high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is -56.80%.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $33,894.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,386 shares in the company, valued at $87,318. This trade represents a 27.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 110,000 shares in the company, valued at $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 insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on STEP shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target 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. Barclays lifted their price target on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.21.

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.