StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $70.46 and last traded at $70.46, with a volume of 564 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $68.03.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on STEP shares. Barclays raised their target price on StepStone Group from $51.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $51.50 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.71.

StepStone Group Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $58.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.87. The company has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 113.39 and a beta of 1.27.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is 160.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of StepStone Group by 291.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 1,586.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 860 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 442.7% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in StepStone Group by 190.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 777 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 35.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

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.