StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Reaches New 1-Year High at $38.31

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $38.31 and last traded at $38.27, with a volume of 42082 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.78.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on STEP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded StepStone Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet lowered shares of StepStone Group from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.21.

StepStone Group Trading Up 1.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.62 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's 50-day moving average is $35.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.01.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of ($14.61) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.29 million. On average, analysts predict that StepStone Group LP will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other news, Director Thomas Keck sold 53,403 shares of the business'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 transaction, the director now directly owns 204,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,251,628.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 6,388,746 shares in the company, valued at $223,989,434.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Keck sold 53,403 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 204,444 shares in the company, valued at $7,251,628.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 91,514 shares of company stock worth $3,233,084. Insiders own 18.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,994,497 shares of the company's stock worth $222,635,000 after acquiring an additional 627,059 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in StepStone Group during the third quarter worth $13,137,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 90.6% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 772,921 shares of the company's stock worth $24,409,000 after buying an additional 367,507 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 210.5% in the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 518,054 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,360,000 after buying an additional 351,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 2,823,766 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,175,000 after buying an additional 289,383 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.