StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group increased their target price on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.88.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP opened at $48.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.25 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.13. StepStone Group has a one year low of $38.85 and a one year high of $77.79.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $300.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.32 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 30.53% and a positive return on equity of 43.38%. Research analysts predict that StepStone Group will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This is an increase from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is -14.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe acquired 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $41.85 per share, for a total transaction of $5,022,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 433,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,128,499.30. This trade represents a 38.32% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $4,860,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 102,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,294. The trade was a 49.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 15.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STEP. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,723,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,774,000 after buying an additional 2,257,880 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,449,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $542,229,000 after acquiring an additional 728,410 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,102,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,439,000 after acquiring an additional 724,201 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 320.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 749,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,972,000 after acquiring an additional 571,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,456,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,951,000 after acquiring an additional 561,176 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.