StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Short Interest Update

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,020,000 shares, an increase of 38.4% from the December 15th total of 1,460,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 580,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

StepStone Group Price Performance

NASDAQ STEP traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $61.08. 243,053 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 468,155. StepStone Group has a 52 week low of $31.15 and a 52 week high of $70.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.69. The company has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a PE ratio of 101.80 and a beta of 1.31.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 160.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.25, for a total transaction of $257,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 686,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,108,653. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.24, for a total transaction of $1,397,034.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,909 shares in the company, valued at $9,986,165.16. This trade represents a 12.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,820 shares of company stock worth $1,908,856. Corporate insiders own 18.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 22.9% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 4,430 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the 2nd quarter worth $206,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new position in StepStone Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,976,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in StepStone Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $897,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in StepStone Group by 8.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 800,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,753,000 after buying an additional 60,339 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four equities 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.64.

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.