StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,200,000 shares, a decrease of 22.0% from the October 15th total of 2,820,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 625,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on StepStone Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $51.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Four research 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 has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.43.

StepStone Group Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP traded down $0.36 on Friday, hitting $65.00. The company had a trading volume of 690,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 576,414. StepStone Group has a 1 year low of $25.06 and a 1 year high of $70.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.33 and a beta of 1.27.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 160.00%.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In related news, CFO David Y. Park sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.21, for a total transaction of $204,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,381,320.71. This represents a 12.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.85, for a total transaction of $50,191.65. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,578.30. This trade represents a 25.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STEP. FMR LLC grew its position in StepStone Group by 3.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,999,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,310,000 after acquiring an additional 141,637 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 12.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,401,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,451,000 after acquiring an additional 265,240 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in StepStone Group by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,115,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,185,000 after purchasing an additional 225,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 150.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 850,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,396,000 after acquiring an additional 510,283 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.