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

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $69.21.

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

StepStone Group Stock Down 4.0 %

StepStone Group stock opened at $51.80 on Friday. StepStone Group has a twelve month low of $33.92 and a twelve month high of $70.38. The company has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.65 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $58.91 and its 200 day moving average is $60.04.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently -56.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was 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 $6,757,300. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the firm’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 owns 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,318. This trade represents a 27.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new stake in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Amundi increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in StepStone Group by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 844 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

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.