Squarepoint Ops LLC Makes New Investment in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $543,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 368.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,019 shares of the company's stock worth $6,366,000 after acquiring an additional 88,095 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in StepStone Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $388,000. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $355,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $941,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $331,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

StepStone Group Stock Up 0.4%

STEP traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $56.78. The stock had a trading volume of 474,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 686,374. StepStone Group LP has a 1 year low of $40.07 and a 1 year high of $70.38. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $52.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.53. The stock has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a PE ratio of -33.60 and a beta of 1.40.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $295.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.87 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 11.29% and a positive return on equity of 12.04%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 66.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that StepStone Group LP will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is -40.17%.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other news, insider Jason P. Ment sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total transaction of $48,016.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 90,663 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 199,741 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.92, for a total transaction of $11,968,480.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 491,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,455,593.44. The trade was a 28.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 338,426 shares of company stock worth $20,325,626. Corporate insiders own 18.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STEP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays set a $62.00 target price on StepStone Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $67.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.57.

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.