The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Boosts Holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,223 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $1,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of STEP. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in StepStone Group by 291.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 1,586.3% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 442.7% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in StepStone Group during the third quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in StepStone Group by 190.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.24, for a total value of $1,397,034.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,986,165.16. This trade represents a 12.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.85, for a total value of $50,191.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,578.30. This represents a 25.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,820 shares of company stock valued at $1,908,856 over the last three months. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

StepStone Group Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ STEP opened at $59.82 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $62.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.57. StepStone Group LP has a 12-month low of $25.88 and a 12-month high of $70.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a PE ratio of 99.70 and a beta of 1.27.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 160.00%.

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.