California State Teachers Retirement System Boosts Stock Position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,445 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,502 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.05% of StepStone Group worth $3,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Amundi grew 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 purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised 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 worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in StepStone Group by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,079 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of STEP stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $56.78. The stock had a trading volume of 474,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 687,475. StepStone Group LP has a 12-month low of $40.07 and a 12-month high of $70.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.60 and a beta of 1.40. The firm's 50-day moving average is $52.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.53.

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 the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $295.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $231.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 66.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that StepStone Group LP will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is -40.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on STEP shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 price objective on StepStone Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Barclays set a $62.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other StepStone Group news, insider Jason P. Ment sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was 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 directly owns 90,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,441,593.26. This represents a 0.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About StepStone Group

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.