StepStone Group Inc. $STEP Shares Acquired by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 16.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 623,919 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 88,794 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $40,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 72.6% during the first 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 last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 39,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,068,000 after buying an additional 2,238 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $18,661,000 after acquiring an additional 63,519 shares during the last quarter. 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 currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $725,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 74,214 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $8,082,903.26. This represents a 37.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 212,052 shares of company stock worth $14,096,290 over the last 90 days. 16.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

StepStone Group Stock Down 8.2%

STEP opened at $43.14 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.22 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $64.59 and its 200-day moving average is $63.39. StepStone Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.07 and a 52-week high of $77.79.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $241.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.92 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 30.66% and a positive return on equity of 31.44%. The firm’s revenue was up 102.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. Equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -16.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on STEP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays upgraded StepStone Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Zacks Research cut StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen raised StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price objective on StepStone Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.86.

About StepStone Group

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.