StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.57.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 price objective on StepStone Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays set a $62.00 price objective on StepStone Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, insider Jason P. Ment sold 55,608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.71, for a total value of $3,375,961.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,073,550.05. This trade represents a 61.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total value of $54,009.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,547,091. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 406,144 shares of company stock worth $24,154,401. 18.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of STEP. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the first quarter worth about $35,000. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 730 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 444.4% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 969 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StepStone Group Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of STEP traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $53.73. 649,764 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 682,043. StepStone Group has a 52 week low of $40.07 and a 52 week high of $70.38. The company's 50 day moving average is $53.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.88. The company has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.79 and a beta of 1.40.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.24. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 12.04% and a negative net margin of 11.29%. The business had revenue of $295.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. The business's revenue was up 66.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that StepStone Group will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -40.17%.

StepStone Group Company Profile

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.