Wasatch Advisors LP Sells 16,475 Shares of StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Wasatch Advisors LP decreased its position in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 905,245 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,475 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $37,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in StepStone Group by 9.4% in the fourth 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,227,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $399,635,000 after purchasing an additional 504,680 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,102,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,439,000 after purchasing an additional 724,201 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,456,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,951,000 after purchasing an additional 561,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,138,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,317,000 after purchasing an additional 95,339 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Trading Up 7.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP opened at $49.51 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $43.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.81. StepStone Group Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $77.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.09 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a PE ratio of -6.41 and a beta of 1.27.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.02). StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 30.53% and a positive return on equity of 43.38%. The company had revenue of $300.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $309.32 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is presently -14.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STEP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Monday, July 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe acquired 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $41.85 per share, with a total value of $5,022,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 433,178 shares in the company, valued at $18,128,499.30. This represents a 38.32% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

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.