Short Interest in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) Increases By 43.6%

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 3,051,721 shares, a growth of 43.6% from the January 29th total of 2,124,504 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,523,948 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,523,948 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 74,214 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.14, for a total transaction of $4,908,513.96. Following the sale, the insider owned 122,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,082,903.26. The trade was a 37.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $725,200.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 212,052 shares of company stock valued at $14,096,290 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 16.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 72.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 3,843 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in StepStone Group by 6.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in StepStone Group by 6.0% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 39,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 21.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 357,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,661,000 after acquiring an additional 63,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the first quarter worth about $209,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on STEP. Zacks Research downgraded StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore set a $73.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.86.

StepStone Group Stock Up 2.5%

NASDAQ STEP traded up $1.07 on Monday, hitting $44.21. 569,698 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,267,422. StepStone Group has a fifty-two week low of $40.07 and a fifty-two week high of $77.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $64.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.39. The company has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of -6.37 and a beta of 1.39.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $241.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.92 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 30.66% and a positive return on equity of 31.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 102.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that StepStone Group will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -16.14%.

StepStone Group Company Profile

StepStone Group is a global private markets investment firm that provides specialized investment solutions across private equity, private credit and real assets. The firm offers customized portfolios, secondary interests, direct co-investments and tailored advisory services to institutional investors worldwide. StepStone’s integrated research and data analytics platform supports its investment teams in sourcing opportunities and monitoring portfolio companies.

Founded in 2007 as an independent private markets specialist, the company has grown its presence through both organic expansion and strategic partnerships.