AdvisorShares Investments LLC Invests $457,000 in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

AdvisorShares Investments LLC bought a new stake in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 7,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $457,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its stake in StepStone Group by 368.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,019 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,366,000 after acquiring an additional 88,095 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter worth $388,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter worth $355,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter valued at $941,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth about $331,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STEP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $69.00 to $48.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $67.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.64.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,757,300. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $33,894.00. Following 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 company insiders.

StepStone Group Price Performance

StepStone Group stock traded up $3.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $54.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 814,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 669,789. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.33. StepStone Group LP has a 12 month low of $36.97 and a 12 month high of $70.38. The stock has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.31 and a beta of 1.36.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -56.80%.

StepStone Group Company 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.