AdvisorShares Investments LLC Acquires New Shares in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

AdvisorShares Investments LLC purchased a new stake in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $457,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,938,181 shares of the company's stock worth $401,582,000 after purchasing an additional 411,133 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,599,875 shares of the company's stock valued at $324,122,000 after buying an additional 895,521 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,542,270 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,027,000 after buying an additional 366,154 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,902,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,109,000 after buying an additional 14,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,711,872 shares of the company's stock worth $99,083,000 after acquiring an additional 77,490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the 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 owns 110,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,757,300. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

StepStone Group Stock Down 0.5 %

STEP stock traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $54.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 67,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 667,407. The stock has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.16 and a beta of 1.37. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $51.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.31. StepStone Group LP has a 1 year low of $36.97 and a 1 year high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -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.