Walleye Capital LLC Takes $1.64 Million Position in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 34,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,636,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in STEP. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in StepStone Group by 155.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 514 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in StepStone Group by 58.6% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 544 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STEP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on StepStone Group from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Oppenheimer decreased 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. UBS Group initiated coverage on StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.00.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of STEP stock opened at $40.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.97 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $45.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.26. StepStone Group Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $77.79.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.06. The company 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -16.47%.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $4,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 102,290 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,294. The trade was a 49.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe acquired 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $41.85 per share, for a total transaction of $5,022,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 433,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Company insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

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.