StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong-Buy” Rating

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on StepStone Group in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on StepStone Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.57.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STEP opened at $72.12 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $63.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of -9.02 and a beta of 1.34. StepStone Group has a 52 week low of $40.07 and a 52 week high of $73.23.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $282.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $272.15 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 21.53% and a negative net margin of 40.06%.The business’s revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that StepStone Group will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In related news, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 70,402 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.30, for a total transaction of $4,386,044.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total value of $661,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $661,700. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 362,858 shares of company stock worth $23,341,044 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 24,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 35.5% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 7.5% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.