Brokerages Set StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Price Target at $35.21

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.21.

STEP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of StepStone Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th.

StepStone Group Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP opened at $35.82 on Friday. StepStone Group has a 52 week low of $19.83 and a 52 week high of $38.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.80 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $34.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.48.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.29 million. Analysts predict that StepStone Group will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is 93.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder James Lim sold 9,008 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder James Lim sold 9,008 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Keck sold 53,403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.47, for a total transaction of $1,894,204.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 204,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,251,628.68. 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 19.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of STEP. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 67.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 5,132.1% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,437 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $164,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

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.