The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires 1,155 Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,223 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $1,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 749.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $734,000 after acquiring an additional 14,118 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 991.1% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,378,000 after buying an additional 264,811 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the second quarter worth $5,254,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 25.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,115,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,185,000 after acquiring an additional 225,201 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 399.3% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 9,616 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays cut their price target on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 157,909 shares in the company, valued at $9,986,165.16. This trade represents a 12.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.25, for a total value of $257,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 686,516 shares in the company, valued at $44,108,653. The trade was a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,820 shares of company stock worth $1,908,856. 18.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

StepStone Group Trading Down 0.6 %

STEP opened at $59.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.70 and a beta of 1.27. StepStone Group LP has a 12 month low of $25.88 and a 12 month high of $70.38. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.57.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 160.00%.

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.