StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from $71.00 to $63.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Evercore ISI's price target points to a potential upside of 1.76% from the stock's current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on STEP. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on StepStone Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group upped 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. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on StepStone Group from $64.00 to $70.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on StepStone Group from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $67.79.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on StepStone Group

NASDAQ:STEP traded up $0.83 on Friday, reaching $61.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 33,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 427,706. StepStone Group has a 12-month low of $31.49 and a 12-month high of $70.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $62.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.72. The firm has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.23 and a beta of 1.31.

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 22,091 shares of the firm'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 value of $1,397,034.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 157,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,986,165.16. This trade represents a 12.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Anthony Keathley sold 729 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.85, for a total transaction of $50,191.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,158 shares in the company, valued at $148,578.30. This trade represents a 25.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,820 shares of company stock worth $1,908,856. Company insiders own 18.44% of the company's stock.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 291.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 618 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in StepStone Group by 1,586.3% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 860 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in StepStone Group by 442.7% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 966 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in StepStone Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 190.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares during the period. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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.

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