StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Price Target Raised to $55.00

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) had its price target boosted by UBS Group from $44.00 to $55.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

STEP has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $46.00 to $51.50 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $41.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $45.88.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STEP opened at $53.68 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $47.77 and a 200-day moving average of $40.66. The company has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.64 and a beta of 1.27. StepStone Group has a 52 week low of $25.06 and a 52 week high of $54.55.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $186.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $181.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that StepStone Group will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. 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. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 106.67%.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

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

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the second quarter valued at about $111,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in StepStone Group during the first quarter worth about $149,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in StepStone Group during the second quarter worth about $206,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in StepStone Group during the second quarter worth about $266,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new position in StepStone Group during the second quarter worth about $303,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

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.