Analysts Set StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Price Target at $69.21

Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.21.

Several research firms recently commented on STEP. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th.

StepStone Group Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of STEP stock opened at $52.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.99. The company has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a PE ratio of -30.92 and a beta of 1.33. StepStone Group has a twelve month low of $32.58 and a twelve month high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -56.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $614,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,757,300. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $33,894.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,318. This 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 Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of STEP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,599,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,122,000 after purchasing an additional 895,521 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,163,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter worth about $32,340,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 353.2% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 661,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,305,000 after acquiring an additional 515,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,938,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,582,000 after acquiring an additional 411,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

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.