StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.21.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on STEP. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 4,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 686,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,108,653. The trade was a 0.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.24, for a total value of $1,397,034.84. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 18.44% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 291.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StepStone Group Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP traded down $1.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $59.94. 565,258 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 478,643. The stock has a market cap of $6.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.47 and a beta of 1.31. StepStone Group has a 12-month low of $32.58 and a 12-month high of $70.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.82.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. StepStone Group's payout ratio 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.