Engle Capital Management L.P. Has $11.32 Million Stock Holdings in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Engle Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 82.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 237,216 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 107,216 shares during the quarter. StepStone Group makes up about 3.9% of Engle Capital Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Engle Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $11,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in StepStone Group by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,449,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $542,229,000 after acquiring an additional 728,410 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,227,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,635,000 after acquiring an additional 504,680 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,102,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,439,000 after acquiring an additional 724,201 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,456,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,951,000 after purchasing an additional 561,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,138,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,317,000 after purchasing an additional 95,339 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 2,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe acquired 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $41.85 per share, for a total transaction of $5,022,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on STEP. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on StepStone Group from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Monday, July 20th. UBS Group assumed coverage on StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Barclays dropped 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, Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.00.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

StepStone Group stock opened at $44.65 on Tuesday. StepStone Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $77.79. The stock has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.57 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $45.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.89.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $305.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -16.47%.

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.