Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stake in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 43.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 417,845 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 126,315 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of StepStone Group worth $23,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in StepStone Group by 291.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 1,586.3% during 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 last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 442.7% during 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. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in StepStone Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 190.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 777 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on StepStone Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.64.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of STEP stock opened at $60.26 on Thursday. StepStone Group LP has a fifty-two week low of $30.46 and a fifty-two week high of $70.38. The firm has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.44 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $62.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.10.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is currently 160.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other StepStone Group news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.85, for a total transaction of $50,191.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,578.30. This represents a 25.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.24, for a total value of $1,397,034.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,986,165.16. This represents a 12.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,820 shares of company stock worth $1,908,856. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.