StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

STEP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $84.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on StepStone Group in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.57.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of STEP stock opened at $72.12 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $63.83 and a 200 day moving average of $62.23. StepStone Group has a 1-year low of $40.07 and a 1-year high of $73.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of -9.02 and a beta of 1.34.

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

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total value of $661,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $661,700. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 117,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.20, for a total value of $7,800,875.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 306,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,258,921.20. This represents a 27.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 362,858 shares of company stock valued at $23,341,044. Corporate insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of STEP. Strs Ohio bought a new position in StepStone Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $757,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 12.7% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 14,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 36.1% in the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 523,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,222,000 after acquiring an additional 138,857 shares during the last quarter. Monument Capital Management bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the second quarter valued at $272,000. Finally, Creative Planning raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 36,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,007,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StepStone Group Company 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.