CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Grows Position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 26.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,409,089 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 297,989 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $85,518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in STEP. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 368.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,366,000 after purchasing an additional 88,095 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the 4th quarter worth about $388,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in StepStone Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $941,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in StepStone Group by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 438,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,359,000 after purchasing an additional 20,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the 4th quarter worth about $355,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of StepStone Group 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,318. The trade was a 27.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $614,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,757,300. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 18.44% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of STEP stock opened at $51.80 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.65 and a beta of 1.33. StepStone Group LP has a one year low of $33.92 and a one year high of $70.38. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.10.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -56.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. 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 MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group has an average 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.