Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 50,110 Shares of StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its holdings in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,189,963 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,110 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $214,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 670,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,006,000 after purchasing an additional 46,273 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the first quarter worth approximately $3,898,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,585,000 after purchasing an additional 51,125 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,456,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,951,000 after purchasing an additional 561,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advent International L.P. bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,733,000. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on STEP shares. Barclays upped their price target on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.25.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STEP opened at $50.32 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of -6.52 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $45.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.08. StepStone Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $77.79.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $300.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $309.32 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 30.53% and a positive return on equity of 43.38%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This is a boost from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 2,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total transaction of $97,645.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe bought 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $41.85 per share, with a total value of $5,022,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 433,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,128,499.30. The trade was a 38.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 15.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.