StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.57.

STEP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer set a $67.00 price objective on shares of StepStone Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays set a $62.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th.

StepStone Group Stock Down 4.5%

Shares of STEP traded down $2.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $53.86. 607,967 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 681,352. The stock has a market cap of $6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.87 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $53.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.18. StepStone Group has a twelve month low of $40.07 and a twelve month high of $70.38.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $295.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.87 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 66.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that StepStone Group will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. StepStone Group's payout ratio is presently -40.17%.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other news, insider Jason P. Ment sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.02, for a total value of $48,016.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 90,663 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,441,593.26. This represents a 0.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 199,741 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.92, for a total transaction of $11,968,480.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 491,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,455,593.44. The trade was a 28.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 338,426 shares of company stock worth $20,325,626 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 18.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STEP. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 269.8% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,962,826 shares of the company's stock valued at $154,748,000 after acquiring an additional 2,161,548 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of StepStone Group in the 4th quarter worth about $46,163,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in StepStone Group during the 4th quarter valued at $32,340,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in StepStone Group by 353.2% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.

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.