StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $69.32 and last traded at $68.8390, with a volume of 92247 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $66.61.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STEP has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded StepStone Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.57.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $63.09 and a 200-day moving average of $61.75. The company has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a PE ratio of -8.69 and a beta of 1.34.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $282.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $272.15 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 40.06% and a positive return on equity of 21.53%. The business’s revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is currently -14.00%.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 74,214 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 122,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,082,903.26. This represents a 37.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 70,402 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.30, for a total value of $4,386,044.60. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 362,858 shares of company stock worth $23,341,044. Company insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in StepStone Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $757,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 14,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 36.1% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 523,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,222,000 after purchasing an additional 138,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 10.8% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 36,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,007,000 after buying an additional 3,524 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StepStone Group Company Profile

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.