Granahan Investment Management LLC Sells 92,746 Shares of StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Granahan Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 24.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 288,709 shares of the company’s stock after selling 92,746 shares during the period. Granahan Investment Management LLC’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $18,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in STEP. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 72.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 3,843 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 39,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 357,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,661,000 after purchasing an additional 63,519 shares during the period. Finally, United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 1st quarter worth about $209,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of StepStone Group from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.88.

StepStone Group Price Performance

StepStone Group stock opened at $48.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.10 and a beta of 1.29. StepStone Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.58 and a 1 year high of $77.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $50.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.35.

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 company had revenue of $305.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 26.88% and a positive return on equity of 37.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Research analysts expect that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.28 dividend. 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 -16.47%.

StepStone Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other StepStone Group news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 2,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total value of $97,645.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe acquired 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $41.85 per share, with a total value of $5,022,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 433,178 shares in the company, valued at $18,128,499.30. This trade represents a 38.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 16.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.