Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 12,328 Shares of StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 360,253 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,328 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.30% of StepStone Group worth $17,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 155.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 514 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 58.6% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 544 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in StepStone Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in StepStone Group by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 2,290 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total transaction of $97,645.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe bought 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $41.85 per share, for a total transaction of $5,022,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 433,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,128,499.30. The trade was a 38.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STEP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.00.

StepStone Group Stock Down 4.3%

STEP stock opened at $41.11 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.45. StepStone Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.85 and a twelve month high of $77.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of -6.05 and a beta of 1.31.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 26.88% and a positive return on equity of 37.69%. The business had revenue of $305.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.11 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -16.47%.

StepStone Group Profile

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.