Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Lowers Holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 17.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 104,822 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,920 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.09% of StepStone Group worth $6,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of STEP. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in StepStone Group by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 491,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,430,000 after purchasing an additional 69,513 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter worth $355,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 26,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in StepStone Group by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 126,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 14,100 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $331,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on STEP. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.21.

StepStone Group Stock Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ STEP opened at $53.87 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of -31.88 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.00. StepStone Group LP has a fifty-two week low of $33.90 and a fifty-two week high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -56.80%.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In related news, 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 value of $33,894.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $6,757,300. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 18.44% of the company’s stock.

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.