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

Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $66.64.

STEP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,909 shares in the company, valued at $9,986,165.16. This trade represents a 12.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.25, for a total value of $257,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 686,516 shares in the company, valued at $44,108,653. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,820 shares of company stock worth $1,908,856. 18.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in StepStone Group by 291.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 1,586.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 860 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 442.7% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the third quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in StepStone Group by 190.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

StepStone Group stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $58.12. 1,759,462 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 588,734. The firm has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.87 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $62.76 and a 200 day moving average of $54.67. StepStone Group has a 12-month low of $29.17 and a 12-month high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.