BMO Capital Markets Lowers StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Price Target to $58.00

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) had its price target cut by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from $70.00 to $58.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 21.36% from the stock’s current price.

STEP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research cut StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Barclays raised StepStone Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.57.

StepStone Group Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of STEP opened at $47.79 on Tuesday. StepStone Group has a 52-week low of $40.07 and a 52-week high of $77.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.49. The company has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of -6.89 and a beta of 1.39.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $363.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 102.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that StepStone Group will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 9th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $725,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 16.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in StepStone Group by 72.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 3,843 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 6.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 6.0% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 39,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in StepStone Group by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 357,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,661,000 after purchasing an additional 63,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the 1st quarter worth about $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

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.