Millennium Management LLC Sells 502,952 Shares of StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Millennium Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,894,974 shares of the company’s stock after selling 502,952 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $254,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in StepStone Group by 65.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,723,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,774,000 after acquiring an additional 2,257,880 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in StepStone Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,859,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 320.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 749,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,972,000 after purchasing an additional 571,643 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 401.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 604,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,481,000 after purchasing an additional 483,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 325.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 598,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,074,000 after purchasing an additional 457,775 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $725,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of STEP stock opened at $44.90 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $60.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.19. The stock has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of -6.47 and a beta of 1.39. StepStone Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.07 and a 12 month high of $77.79.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 30.66% and a positive return on equity of 31.44%. The company had revenue of $241.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.92 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. StepStone Group’s quarterly revenue was up 102.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is -16.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STEP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays raised StepStone Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.86.

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.