Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Decreases Stock Position in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC trimmed its position in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 4.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 256,294 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,277 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $12,230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in StepStone Group by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 16,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 105.0% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 1.2% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 18,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $870,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of STEP opened at $43.86 on Monday. StepStone Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.85 and a 52 week high of $77.79. The firm has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.45 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $44.25 and a 200-day moving average of $51.12.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 37.69% and a negative net margin of 26.88%.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 company posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is presently -16.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays cut their target price on 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 reduced their target price on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Seven equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 2,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total transaction of $97,645.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 acquired at an average price of $41.85 per share, for a total transaction of $5,022,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 433,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,128,499.30. This trade represents a 38.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

StepStone Group 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.