Short Interest in StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Increases By 38.4%

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,020,000 shares, an increase of 38.4% from the December 15th total of 1,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 580,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.25, for a total value of $257,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 686,516 shares in the company, valued at $44,108,653. The trade was a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.24, for a total transaction of $1,397,034.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 157,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,986,165.16. This represents a 12.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,820 shares of company stock valued at $1,908,856. Insiders own 18.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 291.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in StepStone Group by 1,586.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 442.7% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the third quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 190.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 777 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.64.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

Shares of STEP traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $61.08. 243,053 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 468,155. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $62.25 and its 200-day moving average is $56.69. StepStone Group has a fifty-two week low of $31.15 and a fifty-two week high of $70.38. The company has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.80 and a beta of 1.31.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 160.00%.

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.