StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.2857.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $70.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on StepStone Group in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research cut StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STEP opened at $62.41 on Friday. StepStone Group has a 52-week low of $40.07 and a 52-week high of $68.40. The firm has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.80 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s fifty day moving average is $62.93 and its 200 day moving average is $60.59.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $282.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.15 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 21.53% and a negative net margin of 40.06%.The firm’s revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Equities analysts predict that StepStone Group will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.70, for a total transaction of $617,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,234,000. The trade was a 33.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 70,402 shares of the business’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 transaction of $4,386,044.60. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 171,806 shares of company stock worth $10,680,214 over the last three months. 16.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 2,285.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 501 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in StepStone Group by 155.7% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 514 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its position in StepStone Group by 127.8% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 581 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the second quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

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.