StepStone Group Inc. $STEP Shares Sold by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P reduced its position in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 426,566 shares of the company’s stock after selling 212,757 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $23,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 22,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Cim LLC boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Cim LLC now owns 32,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,675,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 14,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $825,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of STEP opened at $63.16 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $63.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.52. StepStone Group Inc. has a one year low of $40.07 and a one year high of $68.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.90 and a beta of 1.36.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $282.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $272.15 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 40.06% and a positive return on equity of 21.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. On average, analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 70,402 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.30, for a total value of $4,386,044.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.70, for a total value of $617,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,234,000. This trade represents a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 171,806 shares of company stock worth $10,680,214. Insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on STEP shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets started 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. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $84.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.29.

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.