StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 438,130 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,285 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.38% of StepStone Group worth $25,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in StepStone Group by 3.7% during 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in StepStone Group by 12.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,401,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,451,000 after buying an additional 265,240 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 216,029 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 11.9% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 596,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,919,000 after acquiring an additional 84,762 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on STEP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.21.

StepStone Group Trading Down 3.5 %

StepStone Group stock opened at $58.59 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.22 and a 200-day moving average of $59.57. The stock has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.67 and a beta of 1.31. StepStone Group LP has a 52 week low of $32.58 and a 52 week high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently -56.80%.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 4,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.25, for a total value of $257,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 686,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,108,653. This trade represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,318. This trade represents a 27.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,629 shares of company stock valued at $2,302,229. Insiders own 18.44% of the company’s stock.

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.