Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Raises Position in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 40.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 786,221 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 227,483 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.68% of StepStone Group worth $41,064,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in StepStone Group in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 791 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 27,697 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.06, for a total transaction of $1,663,481.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 80,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,804,800. This trade represents a 25.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 199,741 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.92, for a total value of $11,968,480.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 491,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,455,593.44. This represents a 28.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 416,144 shares of company stock valued at $24,757,301. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

StepStone Group Stock Up 6.0%

STEP stock opened at $63.24 on Friday. StepStone Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.07 and a 52-week high of $70.38. The company has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a PE ratio of -26.46 and a beta of 1.36. The stock's 50 day moving average is $57.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.29.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last announced 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 positive return on equity of 15.21% and a negative net margin of 15.28%. The business had revenue of $295.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. StepStone Group's revenue was up 66.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -40.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays set a $62.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.43.

StepStone Group Profile

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.

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