StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold”

Zacks Research cut shares of StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on STEP. Evercore set a $73.00 price target on StepStone Group in a report on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on StepStone Group from $105.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $73.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.63.

StepStone Group Price Performance

STEP opened at $59.30 on Tuesday. StepStone Group has a fifty-two week low of $40.07 and a fifty-two week high of $77.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.54 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50-day moving average is $67.63 and its 200 day moving average is $64.06.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 102.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that StepStone Group will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -16.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 117,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.20, for a total transaction of $7,800,875.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 306,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,258,921.20. The trade was a 27.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 222,052 shares of company stock valued at $14,713,290. 16.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STEP. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 967,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,207,000 after acquiring an additional 25,559 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 523,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,222,000 after buying an additional 138,857 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 14,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in StepStone Group by 49.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 487,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,836,000 after acquiring an additional 160,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its position in StepStone Group by 10.8% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 36,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,007,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently 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.