StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $61.64.

STEP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on StepStone Group from $69.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 target price on StepStone Group and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target 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 Price Performance

STEP stock opened at $50.23 on Thursday. StepStone Group has a 1-year low of $35.25 and a 1-year high of $70.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.72 and a beta of 1.36.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors 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 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is -56.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other news, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 538 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $33,894.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,318. This represents a 27.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $614,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 110,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,757,300. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of STEP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 19.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,163,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,340,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 353.2% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 661,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,305,000 after purchasing an additional 515,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,938,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,582,000 after purchasing an additional 411,133 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.