StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Short Interest Update

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on STEP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.64.

StepStone Group Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ STEP traded up $0.57 during trading on Friday, hitting $61.65. 31,527 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 427,706. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.58 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $62.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.72. StepStone Group has a 1 year low of $31.49 and a 1 year high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 160.00%.

Insider Transactions 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, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.25, for a total value of $257,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 686,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,108,653. The trade was a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,820 shares of company stock valued at $1,908,856 in the last 90 days. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 291.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in StepStone Group by 1,586.3% during the third 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 lifted its position in StepStone Group by 442.7% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the third quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 190.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.