State of Alaska Department of Revenue Acquires 10,673 Shares of StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 29.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,036 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,673 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $3,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 2,285.7% in the third quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 501 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in StepStone Group by 155.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 514 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its position in StepStone Group by 127.8% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 581 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in StepStone Group during the second quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its position in StepStone Group by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STEP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $104.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on StepStone Group from $70.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price target on StepStone Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.50.

StepStone Group Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of StepStone Group stock opened at $54.35 on Friday. StepStone Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.58 and a twelve month high of $77.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.83 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.83.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $241.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.92 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 102.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -16.14%.

StepStone Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other StepStone Group news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $725,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 16.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.