Alliancebernstein L.P. Reduces Holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,770,323 shares of the company’s stock after selling 182,334 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $102,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in StepStone Group in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Trading Up 3.2 %

STEP opened at $55.61 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.91 and a beta of 1.33. StepStone Group LP has a 12-month low of $33.92 and a 12-month high of $70.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.08.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders 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 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -56.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $614,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,000 shares in the company, 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $33,894.00. Following 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. Company insiders own 18.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on STEP shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays raised their price target 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. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.21.

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.