Bank of America Corp DE Lowers Stock Holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Bank of America Corp DE cut its holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 271,075 shares of the company's stock after selling 36,618 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.24% of StepStone Group worth $15,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 30,600 shares of the company's stock worth $1,771,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StepStone Group Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of STEP stock traded up $2.01 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $58.72. 1,655,463 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 677,629. StepStone Group LP has a 1 year low of $40.07 and a 1 year high of $70.38. The stock has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of -34.75 and a beta of 1.37. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $52.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.80.

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

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. StepStone Group's payout ratio is presently -40.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 price objective on StepStone Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on StepStone Group from $69.00 to $48.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In related news, insider Jason P. Ment sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was 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 directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total value 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. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.