Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $1.11 Million Stake in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 44.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,228 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in StepStone Group were worth $1,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of STEP. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in StepStone Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new position in StepStone Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Amundi lifted its position in StepStone Group by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in StepStone Group by 444.4% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 969 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 67,718 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.54, for a total transaction of $3,828,775.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 423,864 shares in the company, valued at $23,965,270.56. This represents a 13.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total transaction of $54,009.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 109,100 shares in the company, valued at $6,547,091. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 406,144 shares of company stock worth $24,154,401 over the last three months. Insiders own 18.44% of the company's stock.

StepStone Group Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of STEP traded up $1.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $53.82. 240,729 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 622,214. The company has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.52 and a beta of 1.40. The firm's fifty day moving average is $54.00 and its 200 day moving average is $56.85. StepStone Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.07 and a fifty-two week high of $70.38.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.24. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 15.28% and a positive return on equity of 15.21%. The firm had revenue of $295.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.87 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 66.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is currently -40.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on STEP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays set a $62.00 price objective on StepStone Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 target price on StepStone Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.57.

About StepStone Group

StepStone Group Inc is a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in direct, fund of funds, secondary direct, and secondary indirect investments. For direct investment, it seeks to invest in private debt, venture debt, incubation, mezzanine, distressed/vulture, seed/startup, early venture, mid venture, late venture, emerging growth, later stage, turnaround, growth capital, industry consolidation, recapitalization, buyout investments in mature and middle market companies.