StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEPGet Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $63.96, but opened at $67.60. StepStone Group shares last traded at $65.07, with a volume of 123,282 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on StepStone Group from $71.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, StepStone Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.79.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on StepStone Group

StepStone Group Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $61.36 and its 200-day moving average is $58.48. The company has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.92 and a beta of 1.31.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEPGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $271.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $215.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that StepStone Group LP will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.85, for a total transaction of $50,191.65. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,578.30. This represents a 25.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David Y. Park sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.21, for a total transaction of $204,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,251 shares in the company, valued at $1,381,320.71. This trade represents a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,820 shares of company stock worth $1,908,856. 18.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Amundi raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised 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 worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,163,000. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in StepStone Group by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 2,087 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter valued at $941,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About StepStone Group

(Get Free Report)

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.

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