MQS Management LLC Takes $243,000 Position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in StepStone Group by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,994,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,635,000 after acquiring an additional 627,059 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 628,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,006,000 after purchasing an additional 136,542 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in StepStone Group by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 634,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,207,000 after purchasing an additional 116,439 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,270,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,749,000 after purchasing an additional 90,974 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in StepStone Group by 74.9% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 164,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,197,000 after buying an additional 70,454 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $49.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $41.25 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.19.

StepStone Group Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ STEP traded up $0.64 on Thursday, reaching $48.39. The company had a trading volume of 722,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 543,716. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of 53.77 and a beta of 1.27. StepStone Group LP has a 12 month low of $25.06 and a 12 month high of $50.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.17.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $177.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $162.47 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that StepStone Group LP will post 1.69 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a Variable dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.9%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other StepStone Group news, Director David F. Hoffmeister bought 22,500 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $44.29 per share, for a total transaction of $996,525.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 45,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,030,829.37. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director David F. Hoffmeister acquired 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $44.29 per share, with a total value of $996,525.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 45,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,030,829.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.34, for a total value of $1,219,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,110.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

StepStone Group Profile

StepStone Group LP. is an investment firm specializing in direct, fund of funds, secondary direct, and secondary indirect investments. For direct investment, it seeks to invest in venture debt, incubation, mezzanine, distressed/vulture, seed/startup, early venture, mid venture, late venture, emerging growth, later stage, turnaround, growth capital, industry consolidation, recapitalization, private equity and buyout investments in mature and middle market companies.