Comerica Bank Sells 48,733 Shares of StepStone Group Inc. $STEP

Comerica Bank decreased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) by 75.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,873 shares of the company’s stock after selling 48,733 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in StepStone Group were worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of StepStone Group from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $104.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.75.

StepStone Group Trading Up 2.9%

STEP stock opened at $55.74 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $48.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.74. The stock has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of -8.03 and a beta of 1.34. StepStone Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.58 and a 1 year high of $77.79.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $241.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.92 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 31.44% and a negative net margin of 30.66%.The company’s revenue was up 102.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 9th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.