Renaissance Technologies LLC Cuts Holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Renaissance Technologies LLC decreased its stake in shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 320,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,700 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.29% of StepStone Group worth $14,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of STEP. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $111,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the 1st quarter worth about $149,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $206,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the 1st quarter worth about $243,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $303,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:STEP opened at $56.21 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.26. The company has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 62.46 and a beta of 1.28. StepStone Group LP has a 52-week low of $25.06 and a 52-week high of $57.31.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $186.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.15 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that StepStone Group LP will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. This is a boost from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price target on StepStone Group from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on StepStone Group from $46.00 to $51.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on StepStone Group from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on StepStone Group from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on StepStone Group from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.88.

About StepStone Group

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.