80,721 Shares in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP Purchased by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 80,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,898,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in StepStone Group by 105.0% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 414 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 155.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in StepStone Group by 58.6% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 544 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in StepStone Group by 60.0% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the second quarter valued at $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, insider Michael I. Mccabe acquired 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $41.85 per share, for a total transaction of $5,022,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 433,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,128,499.30. This represents a 38.32% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $4,860,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 102,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,294. This represents a 49.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 16.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on StepStone Group from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group assumed coverage on StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.00.

StepStone Group Trading Up 5.0%

Shares of StepStone Group stock opened at $42.61 on Friday. StepStone Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.85 and a 12-month high of $77.79. The company has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.27 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $45.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.19.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $305.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 26.88% and a positive return on equity of 37.69%. StepStone Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -16.47%.

StepStone Group Profile

StepStone Group is a global private markets investment firm that provides specialized investment solutions across private equity, private credit and real assets. The firm offers customized portfolios, secondary interests, direct co-investments and tailored advisory services to institutional investors worldwide. StepStone’s integrated research and data analytics platform supports its investment teams in sourcing opportunities and monitoring portfolio companies.

Founded in 2007 as an independent private markets specialist, the company has grown its presence through both organic expansion and strategic partnerships.