Analysts Set StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) Target Price at $62.57

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $61.43.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays set a $62.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $67.00 price target on StepStone Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th.

StepStone Group Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ STEP traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $59.77. 400,660 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 626,393. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $56.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.01 and a beta of 1.36. StepStone Group has a twelve month low of $40.07 and a twelve month high of $70.38.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $295.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $231.87 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 15.28% and a positive return on equity of 15.21%. The business's revenue was up 66.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that StepStone Group will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is currently -40.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other StepStone Group news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 199,741 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.92, for a total transaction of $11,968,480.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 491,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,455,593.44. This represents a 28.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 27,697 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.06, for a total transaction of $1,663,481.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 80,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,804,800. This represents a 25.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 406,144 shares of company stock valued at $24,154,401 over the last ninety days. 18.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in StepStone Group by 444.4% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 969 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 38.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,169 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About StepStone Group

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