Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Takes Position 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 acquired a new position in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 14,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 19.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 895,521 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 11.5% in 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 during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 0.8% in 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $87,341,000 after buying an additional 50,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 871,718 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,455,000 after purchasing an additional 66,523 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

StepStone Group Price Performance

StepStone Group stock traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $58.55. The stock had a trading volume of 262,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 604,308. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.49 and a beta of 1.37. StepStone Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.07 and a 1-year high of $70.38. The stock's fifty day moving average is $57.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.35.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last released 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 15.21% and a negative net margin of 15.28%. The firm had revenue of $295.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 66.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -40.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on STEP shares. Barclays set a $62.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 67,718 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 423,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,965,270.56. The trade was a 13.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.28, for a total value of $612,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 60,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,676,800. The trade was a 14.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 426,144 shares of company stock valued at $25,370,101. Insiders own 16.47% of the company's stock.

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.