Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Purchases 2,731 Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 246.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,840 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,731 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of STEP. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 10.2% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 9,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 0.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 127,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 5.0% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 112,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,410,000 after acquiring an additional 5,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the third quarter worth $850,000. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Price Performance

STEP opened at $53.87 on Friday. StepStone Group LP has a fifty-two week low of $33.90 and a fifty-two week high of $70.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.96. The company has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.88 and a beta of 1.33.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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 approximately $6,757,300. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,386 shares in the company, 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 corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on STEP. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.21.

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.