StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Price Target Raised to $61.00 at Evercore ISI

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by analysts at Evercore ISI from $56.00 to $61.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Evercore ISI's price objective suggests a potential upside of 1.35% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on STEP. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays set a $62.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.43.

StepStone Group Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:STEP traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $60.19. 524,752 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 627,296. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.18 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $56.49 and a 200 day moving average of $56.28. StepStone Group has a 1-year low of $40.07 and a 1-year high of $70.38.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.24. The company 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 last year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. Research analysts forecast that StepStone Group will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other news, insider Jason P. Ment sold 55,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.71, for a total value of $3,375,961.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 34,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,073,550.05. This represents a 61.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 27,697 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.06, for a total value of $1,663,481.82. Following 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 406,144 shares of company stock worth $24,154,401. 18.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in StepStone Group during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Amundi boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 444.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 969 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 791 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.

StepStone Group Company Profile

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.