StepStone Group Inc. $STEP Stock Holdings Increased by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 50.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,219 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 27,788 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.07% of StepStone Group worth $3,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of STEP. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 105.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in StepStone Group by 155.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 514 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in StepStone Group in the second quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in StepStone Group during the third quarter valued at $73,000. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 2,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total transaction of $97,645.60. 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 acquired 120,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased 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 directly owned 433,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,128,499.30. This represents a 38.32% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Monday, July 20th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut 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 report on Tuesday, July 21st. Seven equities 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, StepStone Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.00.

StepStone Group Stock Up 1.0%

StepStone Group stock opened at $50.33 on Friday. StepStone Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $77.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.40 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.39.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.02). StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 37.69% and a negative net margin of 26.88%.The business had revenue of $300.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $309.32 million. Research analysts expect that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is -16.47%.

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.