StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

StepStone Group LP (NASDAQ:STEP) saw 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 presently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays lowered their target price 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 686,516 shares in the company, valued at $44,108,653. This represents a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.24, for a total transaction of $1,397,034.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,986,165.16. This represents a 12.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,820 shares of company stock valued at $1,908,856. Insiders own 18.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC raised its position in StepStone Group by 368.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,366,000 after buying an additional 88,095 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 749.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 16,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 14,118 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,254,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 17.4% in the third 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. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 43.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 417,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,746,000 after purchasing an additional 126,315 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

StepStone Group Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of STEP traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $61.08. The stock had a trading volume of 243,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 468,155. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.69. The firm has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.80 and a beta of 1.31. StepStone Group has a fifty-two week low of $31.15 and a fifty-two week high of $70.38.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

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