Advent International L.P. Invests $5.73 Million in StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Advent International L.P. bought a new stake in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 120,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,733,000. StepStone Group accounts for about 0.1% of Advent International L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Advent International L.P. owned about 0.10% of StepStone Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 670,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,006,000 after purchasing an additional 46,273 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,585,000 after buying an additional 51,125 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,456,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,951,000 after buying an additional 561,176 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in StepStone Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,898,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in StepStone Group by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,776,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,028,000 after acquiring an additional 52,713 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael I. Mccabe bought 120,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $41.85 per share, with a total value of $5,022,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 433,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,128,499.30. This represents a 38.32% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 2,290 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total value of $97,645.60. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 15.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STEP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target 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. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.00.

StepStone Group Price Performance

NASDAQ STEP opened at $44.65 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.57 and a beta of 1.31. StepStone Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.85 and a 12 month high of $77.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $45.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.89.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $305.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 26.88% and a positive return on equity of 37.69%. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid 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 Monday, June 15th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -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.