Squarepoint Ops LLC Buys Shares of 38,942 StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 38,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,161,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,779,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 7.5% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 224,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,486,000 after purchasing an additional 15,746 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 535.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 7,421 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 56.3% during the second quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 23,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 8,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,111,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,668,000 after purchasing an additional 16,410 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on STEP shares. Barclays boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on StepStone Group in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $84.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.57.

StepStone Group Stock Up 0.8%

StepStone Group stock opened at $63.04 on Friday. StepStone Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.07 and a 52 week high of $68.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $62.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.96. The company has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.88 and a beta of 1.44.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $282.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $272.15 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 40.06% and a positive return on equity of 21.53%. StepStone Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 117,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.20, for a total transaction of $7,800,875.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 306,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,258,921.20. This trade represents a 27.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.70, for a total value of $617,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,234,000. This represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 362,858 shares of company stock worth $23,326,344. Insiders own 16.47% 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.