StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Lowered to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

STEP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer cut 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. Evercore ISI set a $73.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore set a $73.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.63.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP opened at $59.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.54 and a beta of 1.32. StepStone Group has a 12 month low of $40.07 and a 12 month high of $77.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $67.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.06.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 30.66% and a positive return on equity of 31.44%. The firm had revenue of $241.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 102.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that StepStone Group will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 74,214 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.14, for a total transaction of $4,908,513.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 122,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,082,903.26. This represents a 37.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $725,200.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 222,052 shares of company stock valued at $14,713,290 over the last quarter. 16.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,449,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,229,000 after purchasing an additional 728,410 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in StepStone Group by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,723,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,774,000 after acquiring an additional 2,257,880 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 2.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,138,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,317,000 after acquiring an additional 95,339 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,056,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,155,000 after purchasing an additional 94,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,776,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,028,000 after purchasing an additional 52,713 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

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.