StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) was the recipient 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 trading volume, of 610,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on STEP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.64.

StepStone Group Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of STEP traded down $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $59.88. The company 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 PE ratio of 99.80 and a beta of 1.27. StepStone Group has a one year low of $30.46 and a one year high of $70.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $62.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.40.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 160.00%.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, CFO David Y. Park sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.21, for a total value of $204,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,381,320.71. The trade was a 12.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, 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 three months, insiders have sold 29,820 shares of company stock worth $1,908,856. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,401,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,451,000 after buying an additional 265,240 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 991.1% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,378,000 after acquiring an additional 264,811 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 25.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,115,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,185,000 after purchasing an additional 225,201 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $82,856,000 after purchasing an additional 216,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 3.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,999,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,310,000 after purchasing an additional 141,637 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.