StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) CEO Scott Hart Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) CEO Scott Hart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.17, for a total value of $661,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $661,700. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

StepStone Group Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of STEP stock opened at $65.37 on Tuesday. StepStone Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.07 and a twelve month high of $68.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.17 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.43.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.05. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 21.53% and a negative net margin of 40.06%.The firm had revenue of $282.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $272.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 943.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 22,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in StepStone Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,112,000. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in StepStone Group by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STEP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on StepStone Group from $73.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on StepStone Group from $84.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded StepStone Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on StepStone Group from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, StepStone Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.57.

StepStone Group Company Profile

StepStone Group is a global private markets investment firm that provides specialized investment solutions across private equity, private credit and real assets. The firm offers customized portfolios, secondary interests, direct co-investments and tailored advisory services to institutional investors worldwide. StepStone’s integrated research and data analytics platform supports its investment teams in sourcing opportunities and monitoring portfolio companies.

Founded in 2007 as an independent private markets specialist, the company has grown its presence through both organic expansion and strategic partnerships.