Public Sector Pension Investment Board Has $18.41 Million Position in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 25.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 281,875 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,901 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned 0.24% of StepStone Group worth $18,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in StepStone Group by 8.5% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 197,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,868,000 after purchasing an additional 15,453 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the third quarter worth $211,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 27,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,795,000 after buying an additional 6,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in StepStone Group by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 78,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,120,000 after buying an additional 5,847 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 117,838 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.20, for a total transaction of $7,800,875.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 306,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,258,921.20. This represents a 27.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $725,200.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 222,052 shares of company stock valued at $14,713,290 in the last 90 days. 16.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

StepStone Group Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:STEP opened at $56.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.18 and a beta of 1.32. StepStone Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.07 and a twelve month high of $77.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.00.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $241.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.92 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 102.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently -16.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on STEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on StepStone Group from $105.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen raised StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Evercore set a $73.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $73.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.63.

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.