StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on STEP shares. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $74.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on StepStone Group from $84.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen cut StepStone Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Barclays raised their price target on StepStone Group from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, StepStone Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.57.

StepStone Group Stock Up 4.3%

The business 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 P/E ratio of -8.69 and a beta of 1.34.

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

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 74,214 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider owned 122,209 shares in the company, valued at $8,082,903.26. This represents a 37.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 70,402 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.30, for a total value of $4,386,044.60. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 362,858 shares of company stock valued at $23,341,044 in the last ninety days. 16.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in StepStone Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $757,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 14,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Monument Capital Management bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 36.1% in 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 position in StepStone Group by 10.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 36,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,007,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.