Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stake in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 11.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 805,195 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,904 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $48,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 291.1% during the third 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. grew its position in StepStone Group by 1,586.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 860 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in StepStone Group by 442.7% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in StepStone Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 190.4% during 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 institutional investors.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of STEP opened at $62.30 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a PE ratio of 103.83 and a beta of 1.27. StepStone Group LP has a one year low of $28.58 and a one year high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is presently 160.00%.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.24, for a total transaction of $1,397,034.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,986,165.16. The trade was a 12.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.85, for a total transaction of $50,191.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,578.30. The trade was 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 worth $1,908,856 over the last ninety days. 18.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on STEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group upped 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. Oppenheimer raised their target price on StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on StepStone Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.64.

StepStone Group Company 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.