StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Evercore ISI Analyst Says

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) had its target price lifted by Evercore ISI from $63.00 to $69.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group lifted their price target on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $69.21.

StepStone Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:STEP traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $60.79. The company had a trading volume of 200,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 472,106. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.90. The company has a market capitalization of $7.00 billion, a PE ratio of -35.97 and a beta of 1.31. StepStone Group has a 52 week low of $32.58 and a 52 week high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is -56.80%.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.24, for a total value of $1,397,034.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,986,165.16. This trade represents a 12.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.25, for a total value of $257,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 686,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,108,653. This trade represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 18.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in StepStone Group by 291.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new position in StepStone Group in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.

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.