Empowered Funds LLC Buys 14,340 Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 105,480 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,340 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.09% of StepStone Group worth $6,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in 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 stake in StepStone Group by 1,586.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 442.7% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in StepStone Group during the 3rd quarter worth $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $44,108,653. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.24, for a total transaction of $1,397,034.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,986,165.16. The trade was a 12.27 % 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

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on STEP shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.21.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of STEP opened at $61.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.73. StepStone Group LP has a one year low of $32.58 and a one year high of $70.38. The company has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.57 and a beta of 1.31.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -56.80%.

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.