Northern Trust Corp Cuts Position in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in StepStone Group Inc. by 4.6% in the first quarter, holding 660,787 shares worth approximately $34.5 million.
• Analysts are optimistic about StepStone Group, with Goldman Sachs and Barclays both raising their price targets to $63, while Oppenheimer has set a target of $84 and reiterated an "outperform" rating.
• StepStone Group has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.24 to $0.28 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 1.8% and signaling confidence in financial performance.

Northern Trust Corp lessened its position in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 660,787 shares of the company's stock after selling 31,783 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.57% of StepStone Group worth $34,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 38.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,169 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 943.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,847 shares of the company's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STEP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (up previously from $81.00) on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Monday, August 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered StepStone Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.00.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of STEP stock opened at $62.06 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $59.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.15 and a beta of 1.37. StepStone Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.07 and a 52-week high of $70.38.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $237.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.99 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 17.10% and a positive return on equity of 16.07%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 95.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from StepStone Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is presently -31.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other StepStone Group news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 67,718 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.54, for a total transaction of $3,828,775.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 423,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,965,270.56. The trade was a 13.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $614,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,072,000. This trade represents a 16.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 97,718 shares of company stock valued at $5,658,876. 16.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

StepStone Group Company 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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