Wasatch Advisors LP Has $37.44 Million Stock Holdings in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Wasatch Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 1.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 905,245 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,475 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP owned about 0.76% of StepStone Group worth $37,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in StepStone Group by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 16,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 58.6% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 544 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 105.0% during 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. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 1.2% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 18,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $870,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Trading Up 7.3%

STEP opened at $49.51 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.41 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.81. StepStone Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $77.79.

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 business had revenue of $300.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.32 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on STEP. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe purchased 120,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $41.85 per share, for a total transaction of $5,022,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 433,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,128,499.30. This trade represents a 38.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $4,860,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 15.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.