Delta Global Management LP Takes Position in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Delta Global Management LP acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 54,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,577,000.

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

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total transaction of $4,860,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 102,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,294. This trade represents a 49.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $41.85 per share, with a total value of $5,022,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 433,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,128,499.30. This trade represents a 38.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on StepStone Group from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group began coverage on StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.00.

StepStone Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:STEP opened at $42.61 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $45.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.19. The stock has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.27 and a beta of 1.31. StepStone Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $77.79.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.06. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 37.69% and a negative net margin of 26.88%.The business had revenue of $305.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio 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.