StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Reaches New 52-Week High at $51.06

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $51.06 and last traded at $50.88, with a volume of 51238 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.06.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on StepStone Group from $41.25 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on StepStone Group from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.19.

StepStone Group Trading Up 0.6 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $45.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.71. The firm has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.85 and a beta of 1.27.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 23rd. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $177.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $162.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that StepStone Group LP will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a Variable dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, Director David F. Hoffmeister bought 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $44.29 per share, with a total value of $996,525.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 45,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,030,829.37. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other StepStone Group news, Director David F. Hoffmeister acquired 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $44.29 per share, with a total value of $996,525.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 45,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,030,829.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.34, for a total transaction of $1,219,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,159 shares in the company, valued at $406,110.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American International Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 1.2% during the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 27,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in StepStone Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $784,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 10.8% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in StepStone Group by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 288,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,309,000 after buying an additional 1,061 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in StepStone Group by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 24,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.