Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 57.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,250 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,641 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC increased its stake in StepStone Group by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 0.9% during the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 24,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 22,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Cim LLC increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 32,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 38.5% in the 1st 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. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other StepStone Group news, CFO David Y. Park sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.26, for a total value of $63,260.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,392,985.20. This represents a 4.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.34, for a total value of $643,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,930,200. This trade represents a 25.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 31,000 shares of company stock worth $1,968,060 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.83.

StepStone Group Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ STEP opened at $60.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.77 and a beta of 1.37. StepStone Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.07 and a 52-week high of $70.38. The business’s 50 day moving average is $63.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.07.

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

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This is a positive change from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is currently -36.36%.

StepStone Group Company 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.