StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Trading Up 6.5% – Time to Buy?

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP)’s share price was up 6.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $49.17 and last traded at $49.1350. 620,601 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 1,286,815 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on STEP. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Friday, August 7th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, StepStone Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.88.

StepStone Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.62. The company has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.23 and a beta of 1.27.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other news, insider Michael I. Mccabe acquired 120,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $41.85 per share, with a total value of $5,022,000.00. Following the purchase, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 2,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total transaction of $97,645.60. 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 company insiders.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 670,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,006,000 after acquiring an additional 46,273 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the first quarter worth about $3,898,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 258,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,585,000 after acquiring an additional 51,125 shares in the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 561,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advent International L.P. acquired a new stake in StepStone Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,733,000. 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.