Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Invests $753,000 in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP)

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH has invested approximately $753,000 in StepStone Group Inc., acquiring 14,418 shares in the company during the first quarter.
• StepStone Group recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.68, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.44, along with a revenue increase of 66.8% year-over-year.
• The company plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.24, which represents a dividend yield of 1.7% and an annualized payout ratio of -40.17%.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 14,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $324,122,000 after purchasing an additional 895,521 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,542,270 shares of the company's stock worth $205,027,000 after purchasing an additional 366,154 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,902,366 shares of the company's stock worth $110,109,000 after purchasing an additional 14,888 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,508,666 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,341,000 after acquiring an additional 50,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 871,718 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,455,000 after acquiring an additional 66,523 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.

StepStone Group Trading Down 4.3%

Shares of STEP stock opened at $56.80 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $57.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.39. StepStone Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.07 and a 12 month high of $70.38. The company has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.77 and a beta of 1.37.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 15.21% and a negative net margin of 15.28%. The company had revenue of $295.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 66.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -40.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on STEP shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Barclays set a $62.00 target price on StepStone Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on StepStone Group from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $63.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other StepStone Group news, insider Jason P. Ment sold 55,608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.71, for a total value of $3,375,961.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 34,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,073,550.05. This trade represents a 61.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 67,718 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.54, for a total value of $3,828,775.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 423,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,965,270.56. This trade represents a 13.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 426,144 shares of company stock worth $25,370,101. 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.

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