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

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) CEO Scott Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $725,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

StepStone Group Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP opened at $71.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.44 billion, a PE ratio of -8.92 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.87. StepStone Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.07 and a 12-month high of $77.79.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $282.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.15 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 40.06% and a positive return on equity of 21.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is currently -14.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 72.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 3,843 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in StepStone Group by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in StepStone Group by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 39,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in StepStone Group by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 357,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,661,000 after acquiring an additional 63,519 shares during the period. Finally, United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of StepStone Group in the first quarter worth $209,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on STEP. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of StepStone Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of StepStone Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.71.

About StepStone Group

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.