Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Lowers Stock Holdings in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its holdings in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 36.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,960 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,045 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $1,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in STEP. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 18,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $870,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in StepStone Group by 2,927.6% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 16,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $786,000 after buying an additional 15,926 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the first quarter worth $3,898,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 1.2% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 16,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 197.6% during the 1st quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 12,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 8,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $4,860,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 102,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,294. The trade was a 49.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $41.85 per share, with a total value of $5,022,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 433,178 shares in the company, valued at $18,128,499.30. This represents a 38.32% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group assumed coverage on StepStone Group in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of StepStone Group from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.12.

StepStone Group Trading Up 3.1%

NASDAQ:STEP opened at $44.78 on Thursday. StepStone Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $77.79. The company has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.59 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.23.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 26.88% and a positive return on equity of 37.69%. The business had revenue of $305.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.11 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is -16.47%.

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.