StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Shares Down 7.7% – What’s Next?

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP)’s stock price was down 7.7% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $52.75 and last traded at $52.4740. Approximately 273,399 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 942,050 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on STEP shares. Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Zacks Research cut StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Evercore set a $73.00 price objective on StepStone Group in a report on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on StepStone Group from $105.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.57.

StepStone Group Stock Down 8.1%

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.53 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $66.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.95.

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

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -16.14%.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $725,200.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 117,838 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 306,026 shares in the company, valued at $20,258,921.20. The trade was a 27.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 222,052 shares of company stock worth $14,713,290. Company insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in STEP. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 65.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,723,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,774,000 after purchasing an additional 2,257,880 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,859,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 9.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in StepStone Group by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,102,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,439,000 after acquiring an additional 724,201 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in StepStone Group by 320.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 749,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,972,000 after purchasing an additional 571,643 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

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.