Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Boosts Stake in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 29.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,684 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,266 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $1,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 269.8% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,962,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,748,000 after acquiring an additional 2,161,548 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the first quarter valued at $757,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its position in StepStone Group by 12.7% during the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 14,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Monument Capital Management bought a new position in StepStone Group during the second quarter valued at $272,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 1st quarter worth $1,112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In related news, CFO David Y. Park sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total value of $63,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 22,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,392,985.20. This trade represents a 4.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.70, for a total transaction of $617,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,234,000. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 171,806 shares of company stock worth $10,680,214. Insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on STEP. Zacks Research downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on StepStone Group in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer cut their target price on StepStone Group from $84.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.29.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

STEP opened at $62.62 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $63.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.47. StepStone Group Inc. has a one year low of $40.07 and a one year high of $68.40. The stock has a market cap of $7.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.83 and a beta of 1.36.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $282.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $272.15 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 21.53% and a negative net margin of 40.06%.StepStone Group’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is currently -14.00%.

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.