StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Shares Up 5.3% – What’s Next?

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) shares traded up 5.3% on Friday . The company traded as high as $45.82 and last traded at $45.6480. 226,871 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 1,326,293 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore set a $73.00 price target on StepStone Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Barclays upgraded StepStone Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $105.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.86.

StepStone Group Trading Up 3.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.49 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.00 and a 200-day moving average of $62.44.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $241.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.92 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 31.44% and a negative net margin of 30.66%.StepStone Group’s revenue was up 102.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -16.14%.

StepStone Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, March 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $725,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 16.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 414 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 2,285.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 155.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 58.6% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 127.8% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by 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.