Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,776,677 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,713 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $114,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,723,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,774,000 after buying an additional 2,257,880 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in StepStone Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,859,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,449,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $542,229,000 after buying an additional 728,410 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 320.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 749,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,972,000 after buying an additional 571,643 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 401.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 604,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,481,000 after buying an additional 483,847 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP opened at $44.91 on Friday. StepStone Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.58 and a 1 year high of $77.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.60 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $51.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.20.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $305.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 37.69% and a negative net margin of 26.88%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

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

StepStone Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, March 9th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on STEP shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating 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. Zacks Research cut shares of StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, StepStone Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.88.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total transaction of $4,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 102,290 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,294. The trade was a 49.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 16.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.