Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 90,974 Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,270,144 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 90,974 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 4.77% of StepStone Group worth $167,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of STEP. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,994,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,635,000 after purchasing an additional 627,059 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in StepStone Group by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 628,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,006,000 after buying an additional 136,542 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in StepStone Group in the 4th quarter worth about $442,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in StepStone Group by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 29,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 7,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 634,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,207,000 after acquiring an additional 116,439 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

StepStone Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of StepStone Group stock opened at $46.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.42 and a beta of 1.27. StepStone Group LP has a 52 week low of $23.24 and a 52 week high of $46.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.43.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $177.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $162.47 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.24 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that StepStone Group LP will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a Variable dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is 93.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.34, for a total transaction of $1,219,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $406,110.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director David F. Hoffmeister bought 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $44.29 per share, for a total transaction of $996,525.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 45,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,030,829.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.34, for a total transaction of $1,219,350.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,110.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on STEP. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on StepStone Group from $41.25 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.50.

About StepStone Group

StepStone Group LP. is an investment firm specializing in direct, fund of funds, secondary direct, and secondary indirect investments. For direct investment, it seeks to invest in venture debt, incubation, mezzanine, distressed/vulture, seed/startup, early venture, mid venture, late venture, emerging growth, later stage, turnaround, growth capital, industry consolidation, recapitalization, private equity and buyout investments in mature and middle market companies.