StepStone Group Inc. $STEP Position Raised by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 1,598.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 203,873 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 191,873 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $13,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of STEP. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the 3rd quarter worth $50,859,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 4.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,721,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $504,289,000 after buying an additional 296,378 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 125.7% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 472,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,211,000 after acquiring an additional 263,015 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 28.0% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,122,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,326,000 after acquiring an additional 245,546 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in StepStone Group in the second quarter worth about $10,100,000. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

StepStone Group stock opened at $45.46 on Thursday. StepStone Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.07 and a 52 week high of $77.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.55 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.57.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $241.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.92 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 30.66% and a positive return on equity of 31.44%. The company’s revenue was up 102.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is presently -16.14%.

StepStone Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 9th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on STEP. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays raised StepStone Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $67.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer cut 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, StepStone Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.86.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $725,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

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.