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

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.79.

STEP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $71.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price target on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

STEP stock opened at $61.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of 102.62 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $62.05 and a 200-day moving average of $56.98. StepStone Group has a one year low of $31.49 and a one year high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 160.00%.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of STEP. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 12.4% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 17.4% in the 3rd 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. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 3.7% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 43.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 417,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,746,000 after purchasing an additional 126,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the second quarter valued at $5,254,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.