StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Given New $38.00 Price Target at UBS Group

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by analysts at UBS Group from $37.00 to $38.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. UBS Group's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 5.38% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. TheStreet lowered shares of StepStone Group from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of StepStone Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.21.

StepStone Group Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP traded down $0.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $36.06. 291,629 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 355,827. StepStone Group has a 1-year low of $19.83 and a 1-year high of $38.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.36. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.07 and a beta of 1.25.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.12. The business had revenue of ($14.61) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.29 million. As a group, research analysts predict that StepStone Group will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, major shareholder James Lim sold 9,008 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.06, for a total value of $315,820.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,388,746 shares of the company's stock, valued at $223,989,434.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Thomas Keck sold 53,403 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.47, for a total value of $1,894,204.41. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 204,444 shares in the company, valued at $7,251,628.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder James Lim sold 9,008 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.06, for a total transaction of $315,820.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,388,746 shares in the company, valued at $223,989,434.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 91,514 shares of company stock valued at $3,233,084. 19.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 22.4% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 652,762 shares of the company's stock worth $20,614,000 after buying an additional 119,575 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 210.5% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 518,054 shares of the company's stock worth $16,360,000 after buying an additional 351,205 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 90.6% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 772,921 shares of the company's stock worth $24,409,000 after buying an additional 367,507 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 26.3% during the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 142,749 shares of the company's stock worth $4,508,000 after buying an additional 29,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 9.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 517,499 shares of the company's stock worth $16,343,000 after buying an additional 44,980 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About StepStone Group

StepStone Group LP. is an investment firm specializing in direct, fund of funds, secondary direct, and secondary indirect investments. For direct investment, it seeks to invest in venture debt, incubation, mezzanine, distressed/vulture, seed/startup, early venture, mid venture, late venture, emerging growth, later stage, turnaround, growth capital, industry consolidation, recapitalization, private equity and buyout investments in mature and middle market companies.