StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Price Target Increased to $52.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $43.00 to $52.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $46.00 to $51.50 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $45.88.

StepStone Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of StepStone Group stock opened at $53.11 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.44. StepStone Group has a 12 month low of $25.06 and a 12 month high of $54.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.01 and a beta of 1.27.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $186.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.15 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. Analysts predict that StepStone Group will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other news, Director David F. Hoffmeister purchased 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $44.29 per share, with a total value of $996,525.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 45,853 shares in the company, valued at $2,030,829.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other StepStone Group news, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.34, for a total value of $1,219,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,159 shares in the company, valued at $406,110.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David F. Hoffmeister bought 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $44.29 per share, with a total value of $996,525.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,030,829.37. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 19.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the second quarter worth $111,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in StepStone Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $149,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in StepStone Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $266,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the 2nd quarter worth $303,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.