Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Purchases 90,052 Shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 76.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 208,281 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 90,052 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned about 0.18% of StepStone Group worth $10,879,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Amundi grew its position in StepStone Group by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 444.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 969 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

StepStone Group Stock Up 6.0%

Shares of NASDAQ STEP traded up $3.60 during trading on Thursday, hitting $63.24. 1,443,756 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 623,028. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $57.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.26. StepStone Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.07 and a 1 year high of $70.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.46 and a beta of 1.36.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $295.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 66.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other StepStone Group news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 27,697 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.06, for a total value of $1,663,481.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 80,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,804,800. This represents a 25.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 199,741 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.92, for a total transaction of $11,968,480.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 491,582 shares in the company, valued at $29,455,593.44. The trade was a 28.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 416,144 shares of company stock valued at $24,757,301. Company insiders own 18.44% of the company's stock.

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.