StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Short Interest Up 26.3% in November

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,400,000 shares, a growth of 26.3% from the November 15th total of 1,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 673,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Insider Activity at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.25, for a total transaction of $257,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 686,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,108,653. The trade was a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.24, for a total value of $1,397,034.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 157,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,986,165.16. The trade was a 12.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,820 shares of company stock worth $1,908,856. Company insiders own 18.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in StepStone Group by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 805,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,279,000 after acquiring an additional 85,904 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 399.7% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 52,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,010,000 after purchasing an additional 42,373 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,457,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,856,000 after purchasing an additional 216,029 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in StepStone Group by 368.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,366,000 after buying an additional 88,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of StepStone Group by 8.9% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 118,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,713,000 after purchasing an additional 9,639 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STEP traded up $1.69 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $63.64. The stock had a trading volume of 758,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 582,322. The stock has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.25 and a beta of 1.27. StepStone Group has a 12-month low of $28.58 and a 12-month high of $70.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.26.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is 160.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STEP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.64.

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.