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

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) had its target price lowered by Oppenheimer from $90.00 to $88.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on STEP. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded StepStone Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.25.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

STEP stock opened at $50.32 on Thursday. StepStone Group has a 1 year low of $38.85 and a 1 year high of $77.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.52 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $45.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.18.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.02). StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 43.38% and a negative net margin of 30.53%.The firm had revenue of $300.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $309.32 million. On average, research analysts predict that StepStone Group will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is presently -14.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe acquired 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $41.85 per share, for a total transaction of $5,022,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 2,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total transaction of $97,645.60. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 15.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of STEP. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 3,976.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,415,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,276,000 after buying an additional 3,331,971 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in StepStone Group by 65.2% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in StepStone Group by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,449,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,229,000 after acquiring an additional 728,410 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in StepStone Group by 16.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in StepStone Group by 320.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 749,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,972,000 after acquiring an additional 571,643 shares during the last quarter. 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.