StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four 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 target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.21.

A number of research analysts have commented on STEP shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $33,894.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,318. This represents a 27.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $614,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,757,300. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. 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

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STEP. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Stock Down 8.0 %

Shares of StepStone Group stock opened at $43.90 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.97. The firm has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of -25.98 and a beta of 1.36. StepStone Group has a 52 week low of $34.64 and a 52 week high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently -56.80%.

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.