Capital World Investors Has $196.16 Million Position in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,056,795 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 94,819 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned about 2.58% of StepStone Group worth $196,155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 786,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,470,000 after buying an additional 7,773 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in StepStone Group by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 45,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,929,000 after purchasing an additional 5,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in StepStone Group by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,776,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,028,000 after purchasing an additional 52,713 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position in StepStone Group by 189.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in StepStone Group by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 670,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,006,000 after purchasing an additional 46,273 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on STEP shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research cut StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings cut StepStone Group from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group started coverage on StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on StepStone Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.88.

StepStone Group Stock Down 3.7%

NASDAQ:STEP opened at $43.26 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.36 and a beta of 1.29. StepStone Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.58 and a 12-month high of $77.79.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $305.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 37.69% and a negative net margin of 26.88%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -16.47%.

StepStone Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, March 9th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total transaction of $4,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 102,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,294. This trade represents a 49.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Company Profile

StepStone Group is a global private markets investment firm that provides specialized investment solutions across private equity, private credit and real assets. The firm offers customized portfolios, secondary interests, direct co-investments and tailored advisory services to institutional investors worldwide. StepStone’s integrated research and data analytics platform supports its investment teams in sourcing opportunities and monitoring portfolio companies.

Founded in 2007 as an independent private markets specialist, the company has grown its presence through both organic expansion and strategic partnerships.