Raymond James Financial Inc. Has $36.57 Million Stake in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. has reduced its stake in StepStone Group Inc. by 12.2%, selling 97,438 shares, and now holds approximately 0.60% of the company valued at $36.57 million.
• StepStone Group's quarterly earnings report revealed a missed EPS estimate of $0.40 compared to the consensus of $0.42, with a revenue of $237.47 million against expectations of $238.99 million.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $0.28 per share, effective September 15th, up from the previous dividend of $0.24.

Raymond James Financial Inc. lowered its stake in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 700,131 shares of the company's stock after selling 97,438 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.60% of StepStone Group worth $36,568,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of STEP. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the first quarter valued at $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in StepStone Group by 38.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in StepStone Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. CWM LLC grew its position in StepStone Group by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in StepStone Group by 943.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on STEP. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (up from $81.00) on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of StepStone Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.00.

StepStone Group Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of StepStone Group stock traded down $0.81 on Friday, hitting $62.06. 449,911 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 672,832. The company has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a PE ratio of -20.15 and a beta of 1.37. StepStone Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.07 and a 12-month high of $70.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $59.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.03.

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

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from StepStone Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is currently -31.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,072,000. This represents a 16.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 67,718 shares of the company's 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 owned 423,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,965,270.56. This represents a 13.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 97,718 shares of company stock valued at $5,658,876 over the last quarter. 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.