Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Has $37.85 Million Stock Position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P cut its holdings in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 653,947 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,274 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned about 0.57% of StepStone Group worth $37,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Amundi increased its position in StepStone Group by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 9,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 30,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,771,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on STEP. Barclays boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI upped 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. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

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

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STEP opened at $53.96 on Friday. StepStone Group LP has a 52-week low of $33.92 and a 52-week high of $70.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $59.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.98. The stock has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of -31.93 and a beta of 1.33.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently -56.80%.

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.