Moody National Bank Trust Division Increases Stock Holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 60.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,003 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,059 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division's holdings in StepStone Group were worth $1,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of STEP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in StepStone Group by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,599,875 shares of the company's stock worth $324,122,000 after purchasing an additional 895,521 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,163,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,340,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in StepStone Group by 353.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 661,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,305,000 after acquiring an additional 515,760 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in StepStone Group by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,938,181 shares of the company's stock worth $401,582,000 after acquiring an additional 411,133 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StepStone Group Stock Down 1.0%

STEP stock traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $56.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 206,730 shares, compared to its average volume of 685,697. StepStone Group LP has a 52-week low of $40.07 and a 52-week high of $70.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.47 and a beta of 1.40.

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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that StepStone Group LP will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is presently -40.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays set a $62.00 price target on StepStone Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.57.

Insider Activity

In other StepStone Group news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 51,377 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.90, for a total value of $3,077,482.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 196,423 shares in the company, valued at $11,765,737.70. This represents a 20.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason P. Ment sold 800 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total value of $48,016.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 90,663 shares in the company, valued at $5,441,593.26. This trade represents a 0.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 338,426 shares of company stock worth $20,325,626. Corporate insiders own 18.44% of the company's stock.

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.