StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Shares Acquired by State of Wyoming

State of Wyoming increased its position in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 313.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,482 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,399 shares during the period. State of Wyoming’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of STEP. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Amundi grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 444.4% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 969 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $69.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.64.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other news, insider Jason P. Ment sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total transaction of $48,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 90,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,441,593.26. This represents a 0.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total transaction of $54,009.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,547,091. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.44% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Price Performance

NASDAQ STEP opened at $58.72 on Friday. StepStone Group LP has a 1 year low of $37.63 and a 1 year high of $70.38. The company has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of -34.75 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $51.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.97.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.24. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 11.29% and a positive return on equity of 12.04%. The business had revenue of $295.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 66.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that StepStone Group LP will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -56.80%.

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.