StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) COO Sells $4,860,000.00 in Stock

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) COO Jose Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $4,860,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 102,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,294. This trade represents a 49.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

STEP opened at $44.91 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.20. StepStone Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.58 and a 1 year high of $77.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of -6.60 and a beta of 1.29.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $305.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 26.88% and a positive return on equity of 37.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -16.47%.

StepStone Group declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, March 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.88.

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Essential Partners LLC increased its position in StepStone Group by 17,350.0% during the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in StepStone Group by 53.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 414,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,791,000 after purchasing an additional 144,752 shares in the last quarter. Bull Harbor Capital LLC purchased a new position in StepStone Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $468,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 12,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 980 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 51.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 17,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $838,000 after acquiring an additional 5,979 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company’s stock.

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.