Granahan Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Key Points

• Granahan Investment Management cut its StepStone Group stake by 26.7% in the first quarter, selling 77,083 shares and leaving it with 211,626 shares valued at about $10.1 million.
• StepStone Group reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.57 versus $0.51 expected and revenue of $305.84 million versus $292.11 million estimated.
• Analysts remain mixed but generally constructive: the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus, though several firms lowered price targets recently, and the average target price is $69.00.

Granahan Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 26.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 211,626 shares of the company's stock after selling 77,083 shares during the quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.18% of StepStone Group worth $10,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 72.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 3,843 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,904 shares of the company's stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 39,602 shares of the company's stock worth $2,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 357,281 shares of the company's stock worth $18,661,000 after purchasing an additional 63,519 shares during the period. Finally, United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

StepStone Group Price Performance

StepStone Group stock opened at $42.61 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.27 and a beta of 1.31. StepStone Group Inc. has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $77.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $45.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.19.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $305.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 37.69% and a negative net margin of 26.88%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is currently -16.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael I. Mccabe purchased 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the insider owned 433,178 shares in the company, valued at $18,128,499.30. This represents a 38.32% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 2,290 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total transaction of $97,645.60. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 16.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on StepStone Group from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.00.

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.

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