BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 9,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $558,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in STEP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in StepStone Group by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,599,875 shares of the company's stock worth $324,122,000 after buying an additional 895,521 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,163,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter valued at $32,340,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 353.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 661,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,305,000 after buying an additional 515,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,938,181 shares of the company's stock valued at $401,582,000 after buying an additional 411,133 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shares of NASDAQ STEP opened at $58.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of -34.75 and a beta of 1.37. StepStone Group LP has a 12 month low of $37.63 and a 12 month high of $70.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.97.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $231.87 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 66.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that StepStone Group LP will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

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

In related news, insider Jason P. Ment sold 800 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total value 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. The trade was 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 StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total transaction of $54,009.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,547,091. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $69.00 to $48.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four 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, StepStone Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.64.

View Our Latest Research Report on STEP

(Free Report)

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.

Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report).

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