Rhumbline Advisers Boosts Position in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 197,029 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,453 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in StepStone Group were worth $12,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in StepStone Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in StepStone Group by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 332.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 88.2% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 14.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

StepStone Group Trading Down 5.4%

Shares of StepStone Group stock opened at $53.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.41 billion, a PE ratio of -7.75 and a beta of 1.32. StepStone Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.07 and a 12 month high of $77.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $66.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.88.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $241.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.92 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 31.44% and a negative net margin of 30.66%.StepStone Group’s quarterly revenue was up 102.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is presently -16.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $725,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 74,214 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.14, for a total transaction of $4,908,513.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 122,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,082,903.26. This represents a 37.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 222,052 shares of company stock valued at $14,713,290 in the last ninety days. 16.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STEP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on StepStone Group from $105.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.57.

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.