34,282 Shares in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP Purchased by Walleye Capital LLC

Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 34,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,636,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 670,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,006,000 after buying an additional 46,273 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,585,000 after acquiring an additional 51,125 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,456,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,951,000 after acquiring an additional 561,176 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,776,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,028,000 after acquiring an additional 52,713 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,056,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,155,000 after acquiring an additional 94,819 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael I. Mccabe purchased 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $41.85 per share, with a total value of $5,022,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 102,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,294. This trade represents a 49.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 16.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STEP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group began coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.00.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ STEP opened at $40.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.97 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.26. StepStone Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $77.79.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 26.88% and a positive return on equity of 37.69%. The firm had revenue of $305.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -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.