Wellington Management Group LLP Acquires 94,477 Shares of StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group raised its stake in StepStone Group Inc. by 2.7%, owning approximately 3.09% of the company, which amounts to $186.99 million after acquiring an additional 94,477 shares.
• The company recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.24 to $0.28 per share, indicating a growing commitment to returning value to shareholders.
• StepStone Group's stock has seen a significant price range over the past year, with a low of $40.07 and a high of $70.38, and currently has a market capitalization of $6.82 billion.

Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,580,157 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 94,477 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 3.09% of StepStone Group worth $186,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in StepStone Group in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.28, for a total value of $612,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 60,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,676,800. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason P. Ment sold 55,608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.71, for a total value of $3,375,961.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 34,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,073,550.05. The trade was a 61.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 422,141 shares of company stock valued at $25,129,882 in the last 90 days. 16.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

STEP stock traded up $3.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $61.71. 488,487 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 664,116. StepStone Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.07 and a 1-year high of $70.38. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $58.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.00. The firm has a market cap of $7.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.04 and a beta of 1.37.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.02). StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 16.07% and a negative net margin of 17.10%.The company had revenue of $237.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 95.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from StepStone Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -31.17%.

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.