StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 1,067,669 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the previous session’s volume of 1,026,738 shares.The stock last traded at $45.3620 and had previously closed at $50.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore set a $73.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price objective on StepStone Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Zacks Research downgraded StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.57.

StepStone Group Trading Down 12.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.31 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $66.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.90.

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

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company 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 2.6%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently -16.14%.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $725,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $7,800,875.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 306,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,258,921.20. This represents a 27.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 222,052 shares of company stock worth $14,713,290 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 72.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 3,843 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in StepStone Group by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 39,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 63,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $209,000. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.