StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Receives $69.21 Average PT from Analysts

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $69.21.

Several research firms have weighed in on STEP. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $614,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,757,300. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $33,894.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,318. This represents a 27.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STEP. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 14,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $834,000 after acquiring an additional 3,073 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 442.7% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 15.3% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 18,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,452 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 43.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 417,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,746,000 after buying an additional 126,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 50,250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Price Performance

STEP stock opened at $50.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.12 and a beta of 1.33. StepStone Group has a 52-week low of $32.58 and a 52-week high of $70.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.02.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -56.80%.

About StepStone Group

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.