Prudential Financial Inc. Has $11.28 Million Position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its stake in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 194,916 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,040 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $11,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in StepStone Group during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Amundi grew its position 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 buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STEP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on 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, Evercore ISI increased 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.21.

StepStone Group Stock Down 4.0 %

STEP opened at $51.80 on Friday. StepStone Group LP has a 12 month low of $33.92 and a 12 month high of $70.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.97. The stock has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.65 and a beta of 1.33.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is -56.80%.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $614,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,757,300. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $33,894.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,318. The trade was a 27.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.