Bessemer Group Inc. Purchases 56,671 Shares of StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 15,526.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,036 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,671 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $2,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in StepStone Group by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its position in StepStone Group by 155.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in StepStone Group by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 60.0% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $4,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 102,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,294. The trade was a 49.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe acquired 120,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $41.85 per share, with a total value of $5,022,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 433,178 shares in the company, valued at $18,128,499.30. The trade was a 38.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on STEP shares. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of StepStone Group from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays dropped their target price on StepStone Group from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.00.

StepStone Group Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ STEP opened at $42.97 on Wednesday. StepStone Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $77.79. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of -6.32 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.61.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.06. The business 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 revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is -16.47%.

StepStone Group 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.