Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $825,000 Holdings in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,864 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 38.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in StepStone Group by 14.0% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 943.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares during the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in StepStone Group in the second quarter valued at about $204,000. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of STEP stock opened at $60.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.77 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average of $63.35 and a 200-day moving average of $58.99. StepStone Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.07 and a 12-month high of $70.38.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.02). StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 17.10% and a positive return on equity of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $237.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 95.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This is a boost from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -36.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.34, for a total value of $643,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,930,200. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO David Y. Park sold 1,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total value of $63,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 22,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,392,985.20. This represents a 4.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 31,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,968,060 in the last 90 days. 16.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STEP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on StepStone Group from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. Barclays set a $70.00 price target on StepStone Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.83.

StepStone Group Profile

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