StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) Short Interest Update

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) was the target of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 2,124,504 shares, a drop of 17.6% from the January 15th total of 2,579,673 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 556,677 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Based on an average daily volume of 556,677 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

StepStone Group Trading Up 2.4%

NASDAQ STEP traded up $1.32 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $56.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 769,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 965,594. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.00. StepStone Group has a 52 week low of $40.07 and a 52 week high of $77.79. The stock has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of -8.19 and a beta of 1.32.

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

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -16.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 74,214 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.14, for a total value of $4,908,513.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 122,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,082,903.26. This trade represents a 37.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 222,052 shares of company stock worth $14,713,290 in the last ninety days. 16.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

STEP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price objective on StepStone Group in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore set a $73.00 price objective on StepStone Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.57.

About StepStone Group

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.