Fifth Third Bancorp Has $786,000 Holdings in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 2,927.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,470 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,926 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 65.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,723,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,774,000 after buying an additional 2,257,880 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,449,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,229,000 after acquiring an additional 728,410 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,102,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,439,000 after acquiring an additional 724,201 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 320.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 749,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,972,000 after acquiring an additional 571,643 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,456,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,951,000 after acquiring an additional 561,176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In related news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 2,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total transaction of $97,645.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe acquired 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $41.85 per share, for a total transaction of $5,022,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 433,178 shares in the company, valued at $18,128,499.30. This represents a 38.32% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 15.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of STEP opened at $44.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.89. StepStone Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $77.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a PE ratio of -6.57 and a beta of 1.31.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $305.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 26.88% and a positive return on equity of 37.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently -16.47%.

StepStone Group Company 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.