BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires Shares of 9,636 StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

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.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in StepStone Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in StepStone Group during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in StepStone Group by 444.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 969 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of StepStone Group stock traded down $0.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $60.00. 121,700 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 681,863. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $52.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.83. The stock has a market cap of $6.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.50 and a beta of 1.37. StepStone Group LP has a 12-month low of $40.07 and a 12-month high of $70.38.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $295.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. StepStone Group's revenue for the quarter was up 66.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that StepStone Group LP will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is currently -40.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on STEP. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays set a $62.00 target price on StepStone Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $67.00 price target on StepStone Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jason P. Ment sold 55,608 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.71, for a total transaction of $3,375,961.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,073,550.05. The trade was a 61.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 1,403 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total value of $84,194.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,462,896.97. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 87,308 shares of company stock valued at $5,279,663. 18.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.