Granahan Investment Management LLC Sells 77,083 Shares of StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Granahan Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 26.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 211,626 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77,083 shares during the period. Granahan Investment Management LLC’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $10,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in StepStone Group by 7.4% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in StepStone Group by 24.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in StepStone Group by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,456,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,951,000 after buying an additional 561,176 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in StepStone Group by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,776,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,028,000 after buying an additional 52,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,056,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,155,000 after buying an additional 94,819 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STEP has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays lowered their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. 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 MarketBeat, StepStone Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe bought 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $41.85 per share, for a total transaction of $5,022,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 433,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,128,499.30. The trade was a 38.32% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $4,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 102,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,294. The trade was a 49.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 16.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of StepStone Group stock opened at $42.61 on Friday. StepStone Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.85 and a 52-week high of $77.79. The company has a fifty day moving average of $45.18 and a 200-day moving average of $52.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.27 and a beta of 1.31.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $305.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 26.88% and a positive return on equity of 37.69%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -16.47%.

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.