StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Receives $35.21 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.21.

STEP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $49.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. TheStreet downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In related news, major shareholder James Lim sold 9,008 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.06, for a total value of $315,820.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,388,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,989,434.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Thomas Keck sold 53,403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.47, for a total value of $1,894,204.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 204,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,251,628.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder James Lim sold 9,008 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.06, for a total transaction of $315,820.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,388,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,989,434.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 91,514 shares of company stock valued at $3,233,084. Company insiders own 18.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in StepStone Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 22,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. American International Group Inc. increased its position in StepStone Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 25,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its position in StepStone Group by 67.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in StepStone Group by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its position in StepStone Group by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Price Performance

StepStone Group stock opened at $35.32 on Friday. StepStone Group has a fifty-two week low of $19.83 and a fifty-two week high of $38.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $34.83 and its 200-day moving average is $31.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of 39.24 and a beta of 1.26.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.12. The company had revenue of ($14.61) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.29 million. As a group, analysts expect that StepStone Group will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.33%.

About StepStone Group

StepStone Group LP. is an investment firm specializing in direct, fund of funds, secondary direct, and secondary indirect investments. For direct investment, it seeks to invest in venture debt, incubation, mezzanine, distressed/vulture, seed/startup, early venture, mid venture, late venture, emerging growth, later stage, turnaround, growth capital, industry consolidation, recapitalization, private equity and buyout investments in mature and middle market companies.