Oppenheimer Cuts StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Price Target to $88.00

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) had its price target dropped by analysts at Oppenheimer from $90.00 to $88.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 75.46% from the company’s previous close.

STEP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Barclays increased their target price on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.25.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

STEP stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $50.15. The company had a trading volume of 123,045 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,260,515. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.25. StepStone Group has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $77.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of -6.48 and a beta of 1.27.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $300.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.32 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 43.38% and a negative net margin of 30.53%. Analysts anticipate that StepStone Group will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe acquired 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $41.85 per share, for a total transaction of $5,022,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 433,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,128,499.30. The trade was a 38.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $4,860,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 102,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,294. This trade represents a 49.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in StepStone Group by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,449,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,229,000 after buying an additional 728,410 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in StepStone Group by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,227,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $399,635,000 after acquiring an additional 504,680 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in StepStone Group by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,102,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,439,000 after acquiring an additional 724,201 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in StepStone Group by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,456,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $285,951,000 after acquiring an additional 561,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,138,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,317,000 after purchasing an additional 95,339 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.