Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Stock

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) had its target price boosted by Barclays from $55.00 to $61.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 23.44% from the company’s current price.

STEP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Evercore set a $73.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $70.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.25.

StepStone Group Stock Up 4.7%

Shares of STEP stock traded up $2.24 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $49.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 225,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,236,152. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.52. The company has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.12 and a beta of 1.32. StepStone Group has a one year low of $40.58 and a one year high of $77.79.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $241.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.92 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 30.66% and a positive return on equity of 31.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 102.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that StepStone Group will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 9th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $725,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 16.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 2,285.7% during the 3rd quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 501 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its position in StepStone Group by 155.7% during the third 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 lifted its position in StepStone Group by 58.6% during the fourth 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. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 127.8% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 581 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.