StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,460,000 shares, a decrease of 39.2% from the November 30th total of 2,400,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 610,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

StepStone Group Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of STEP traded down $1.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $59.88. The stock had a trading volume of 276,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 583,856. The company has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.80 and a beta of 1.27. StepStone Group has a 12-month low of $30.46 and a 12-month high of $70.38. The company's 50-day moving average is $62.73 and its 200 day moving average is $55.25.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. StepStone Group's payout ratio is 160.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were 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. This represents a 25.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,820 shares of company stock valued at $1,908,856. Company insiders own 18.44% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC lifted its position in StepStone Group by 368.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,019 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,366,000 after purchasing an additional 88,095 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in StepStone Group by 749.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,001 shares of the company's stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 14,118 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 991.1% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,530 shares of the company's stock worth $13,378,000 after acquiring an additional 264,811 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the second quarter valued at about $5,254,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 17.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,457,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,856,000 after acquiring an additional 216,029 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on STEP. Oppenheimer raised their target price on StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Four research 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 presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $66.64.

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.