StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $41.25 to $46.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. StepStone Group traded as high as $46.85 and last traded at $46.49, with a volume of 33713 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.06.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $49.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on StepStone Group from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on StepStone Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other StepStone Group news, Director David F. Hoffmeister purchased 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $44.29 per share, for a total transaction of $996,525.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 45,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,030,829.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other StepStone Group news, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.34, for a total value of $1,219,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,159 shares in the company, valued at $406,110.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David F. Hoffmeister acquired 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $44.29 per share, with a total value of $996,525.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 45,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,030,829.37. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 18.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of STEP. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the first quarter valued at $149,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in StepStone Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $243,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $442,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 3,937 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Stock Up 0.5 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.39 and a 200-day moving average of $36.50. The company has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 51.42 and a beta of 1.27.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $177.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $162.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. StepStone Group’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that StepStone Group LP will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a Variable dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.9%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is presently 93.33%.

StepStone Group Company Profile

StepStone Group LP. is an investment firm specializing in direct, fund of funds, secondary direct, and secondary indirect investments. For direct investment, it seeks to invest in venture debt, incubation, mezzanine, distressed/vulture, seed/startup, early venture, mid venture, late venture, emerging growth, later stage, turnaround, growth capital, industry consolidation, recapitalization, private equity and buyout investments in mature and middle market companies.