Fred Alger Management LLC Has $58.14 Million Position in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 906,072 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 45,667 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC owned about 0.76% of StepStone Group worth $58,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 65.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,723,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,774,000 after acquiring an additional 2,257,880 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the third quarter valued at $50,859,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,449,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,229,000 after acquiring an additional 728,410 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 320.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 749,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,972,000 after acquiring an additional 571,643 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 401.0% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 604,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,481,000 after acquiring an additional 483,847 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on STEP. Barclays lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings cut StepStone Group from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group began coverage on StepStone Group in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael I. Mccabe acquired 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $41.85 per share, with a total value of $5,022,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 433,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,128,499.30. This trade represents a 38.32% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 2,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total value of $97,645.60. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Stock Up 2.7%

StepStone Group stock opened at $48.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.10 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. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.35.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $305.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 37.69% and a negative net margin of 26.88%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is currently -16.47%.

StepStone Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, March 9th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.