StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.79.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on StepStone Group from $71.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Barclays lowered their price objective on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other StepStone Group news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.24, for a total transaction of $1,397,034.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 157,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,986,165.16. This trade represents a 12.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.25, for a total value of $257,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 686,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,108,653. The trade was a 0.58 % 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 valued at $1,908,856. 18.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,401,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,451,000 after purchasing an additional 265,240 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 17.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,457,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,856,000 after buying an additional 216,029 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 3.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,999,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,310,000 after buying an additional 141,637 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in StepStone Group by 43.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 417,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,746,000 after acquiring an additional 126,315 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,254,000. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ STEP opened at $61.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.62 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.98. StepStone Group has a one year low of $31.49 and a one year high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 160.00%.

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.