Fred Alger Management LLC Buys 45,667 Shares of StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Fred Alger Management LLC grew its stake in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 906,072 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,667 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $58,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 58.6% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on STEP shares. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on StepStone Group from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays upped their price target on StepStone Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered StepStone Group from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.88.

StepStone Group Stock Up 2.7%

NASDAQ:STEP opened at $48.31 on Wednesday. StepStone Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.58 and a twelve month high of $77.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $50.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.35. The company has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.10 and a beta of 1.29.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $305.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 26.88% and a positive return on equity of 37.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -16.47%.

StepStone Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other StepStone Group news, insider Michael I. Mccabe bought 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $41.85 per share, with a total value of $5,022,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 433,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,128,499.30. This trade represents a 38.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 16.47% of the stock is currently 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.