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

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 2,927.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,470 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,926 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of STEP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 728,410 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 8.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,456,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,951,000 after purchasing an additional 561,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 2.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,138,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,317,000 after buying an additional 95,339 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on STEP shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on StepStone Group from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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, July 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of StepStone Group 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 in the company, valued at $4,971,294. The trade was a 49.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe purchased 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $41.85 per share, with a total value of $5,022,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 433,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,128,499.30. The trade was a 38.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

StepStone Group Stock Up 4.8%

STEP stock opened at $44.65 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.57 and a beta of 1.31. StepStone Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $77.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.00 and a 200-day moving average of $51.89.

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

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

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

About StepStone Group

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.