PDT Partners LLC Acquires 22,729 Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

PDT Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 445.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,829 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,729 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $1,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in STEP. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 749.8% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 14,118 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $13,378,000 after buying an additional 264,811 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,254,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 25.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 399.3% during 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.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STEP opened at $65.89 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.82 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.97 and a 200 day moving average of $52.69. StepStone Group LP has a 52-week low of $25.06 and a 52-week high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is 160.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.85, for a total transaction of $50,191.65. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,578.30. This trade represents a 25.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO David Y. Park sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.21, for a total transaction of $204,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,381,320.71. This trade represents a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $51.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.36.

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.