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

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.64.

Several research firms have issued reports on STEP. UBS Group upped their price objective 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 raised their price target on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Activity

In other StepStone Group news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.85, for a total transaction of $50,191.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $148,578.30. The trade was a 25.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO David Y. Park sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.21, for a total transaction of $204,630.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,381,320.71. This trade represents a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,820 shares of company stock worth $1,908,856 over the last quarter. Insiders own 18.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in StepStone Group by 291.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 1,586.3% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 860 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 809 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in StepStone Group by 190.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.

StepStone Group Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of STEP stock traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $57.96. 144,971 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 488,079. StepStone Group has a fifty-two week low of $31.15 and a fifty-two week high of $70.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.60 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $62.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.57.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group's 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.