Stifel Financial Corp Purchases 14,431 Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 34.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,347 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,431 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp's holdings in StepStone Group were worth $3,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in StepStone Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,163,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,340,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in StepStone Group by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,938,181 shares of the company's stock worth $401,582,000 after buying an additional 411,133 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,542,270 shares of the company's stock worth $205,027,000 after acquiring an additional 366,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,409,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,518,000 after acquiring an additional 297,989 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $614,300.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $33,894.00. Following the transaction, 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. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

StepStone Group Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $54.64. 46,698 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 666,954. StepStone Group LP has a one year low of $36.97 and a one year high of $70.38. The company has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.33 and a beta of 1.37. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $50.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on STEP shares. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays dropped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.64.

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.