Deutsche Bank AG Boosts Position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 56.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,937 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 20,108 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG's holdings in StepStone Group were worth $3,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in STEP. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter worth $1,863,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth $267,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at $1,778,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $558,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 353.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 661,799 shares of the company's stock worth $38,305,000 after acquiring an additional 515,760 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STEP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays dropped their target price 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 cut their target price on 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, Evercore ISI increased their price target on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research 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, StepStone Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.64.

StepStone Group Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of STEP stock traded up $2.01 during trading on Monday, hitting $58.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,655,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 677,629. The company has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of -34.75 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $52.04 and a 200-day moving average of $57.80. StepStone Group LP has a 52 week low of $40.07 and a 52 week high of $70.38.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 positive return on equity of 12.04% and a negative net margin of 11.29%. The business's revenue was up 66.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that StepStone Group LP will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. 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 -40.17%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $48,016.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 90,663 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 900 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.44% of the company's stock.

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.