WINTON GROUP Ltd Reduces Holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

WINTON GROUP Ltd lowered its stake in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,954 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,941 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $1,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,938,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,582,000 after acquiring an additional 411,133 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in StepStone Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $793,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 84,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,902,000 after purchasing an additional 7,524 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth about $3,727,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $547,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,757,300. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 approximately $87,318. This represents a 27.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

StepStone Group Trading Down 4.0 %

STEP stock opened at $51.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of -30.65 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $58.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.97. StepStone Group LP has a 12-month low of $33.92 and a 12-month high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.