Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 728,410 Shares of StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,449,878 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 728,410 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.07% of StepStone Group worth $542,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its position in StepStone Group by 2,285.7% during the third quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 501 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in StepStone Group by 155.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 514 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its position in StepStone Group by 127.8% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 581 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in StepStone Group during the second quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STEP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $70.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.75.

StepStone Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:STEP opened at $54.06 on Tuesday. StepStone Group Inc. has a one year low of $40.58 and a one year high of $77.79. The company has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.79 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $48.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.93.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 30.66% and a positive return on equity of 31.44%. The firm had revenue of $241.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 102.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.