Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 77.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,413 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,289 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.'s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in StepStone Group by 2.7% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 47,924 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 36,563 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Vicus Capital grew its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 4,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in StepStone Group by 44.1% during the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 21,228 shares of the company's stock worth $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays set a $62.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.57.
Check Out Our Latest Report on STEP
Insider Activity at StepStone Group
In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 67,718 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.54, for a total value of $3,828,775.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 423,864 shares in the company, valued at $23,965,270.56. This represents a 13.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jason P. Ment sold 55,608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.71, for a total transaction of $3,375,961.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,073,550.05. The trade was a 61.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 406,144 shares of company stock valued at $24,154,401. 18.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
StepStone Group Price Performance
Shares of STEP stock traded up $0.07 on Monday, reaching $57.08. 801,065 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 625,723. The company has a 50-day moving average of $56.01 and a 200-day moving average of $56.25. The company has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.88 and a beta of 1.36. StepStone Group Inc. has a one year low of $40.07 and a one year high of $70.38.
StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 66.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.
StepStone Group Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. StepStone Group's payout ratio is currently -40.17%.
About StepStone Group
(
Free Report)
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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