JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Price Target to $56.00

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) had its price target boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $51.00 to $56.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $41.25 to $46.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on StepStone Group from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $42.38.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STEP traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $49.33. The stock had a trading volume of 13,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 544,162. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $46.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.20 and a beta of 1.27. StepStone Group has a one year low of $25.06 and a one year high of $51.07.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $186.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $181.15 million. StepStone Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that StepStone Group will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. This is an increase from StepStone Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.34, for a total value of $1,219,350.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,159 shares in the company, valued at $406,110.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director David F. Hoffmeister bought 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $44.29 per share, with a total value of $996,525.00. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven R. Mitchell sold 27,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.34, for a total transaction of $1,219,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,159 shares in the company, valued at $406,110.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 19.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. American International Group Inc. increased its stake in StepStone Group by 1.2% during the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 27,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $970,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in StepStone Group by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $784,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in StepStone Group by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in StepStone Group by 0.4% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in StepStone Group by 8.5% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

StepStone Group Company Profile

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.