Brokerages Set StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) PT at $64.36

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $64.36.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on STEP shares. Barclays lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $51.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other StepStone Group news, CFO David Y. Park sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.21, for a total value of $204,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,381,320.71. The trade was a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.85, for a total value of $50,191.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,578.30. This represents a 25.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 11.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 805,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,279,000 after purchasing an additional 85,904 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 399.7% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 52,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,010,000 after purchasing an additional 42,373 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 17.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,457,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,856,000 after purchasing an additional 216,029 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 368.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,366,000 after purchasing an additional 88,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 8.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 118,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,713,000 after purchasing an additional 9,639 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Price Performance

NASDAQ STEP opened at $66.04 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.07 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $61.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.20. StepStone Group has a 1-year low of $25.06 and a 1-year high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is 160.00%.

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.