StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $66.64.

Several equities analysts recently commented on STEP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 4,000 shares of the business’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 owns 686,516 shares in the company, valued at $44,108,653. The trade was a 0.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 157,909 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 29,820 shares of company stock worth $1,908,856 over the last quarter. 18.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in StepStone Group by 291.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 1,586.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 442.7% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in StepStone Group by 190.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ STEP opened at $58.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.22 and a beta of 1.27. StepStone Group has a one year low of $29.17 and a one year high of $70.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.57.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 160.00%.

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.