Jose Fernandez Sells 100,000 Shares of StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Stock

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) COO Jose Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total transaction of $4,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 102,290 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,294. This represents a 49.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

StepStone Group Price Performance

STEP opened at $46.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.82 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $51.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.28. StepStone Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.58 and a 1 year high of $77.79.

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

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. StepStone Group’s payout ratio is currently -16.47%.

StepStone Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, March 9th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research lowered shares of StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of StepStone Group from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.88.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in StepStone Group by 49.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 487,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,836,000 after purchasing an additional 160,318 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in StepStone Group by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 670,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,006,000 after purchasing an additional 46,273 shares during the last quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in StepStone Group by 176.5% during the third quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 381,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,913,000 after purchasing an additional 243,495 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the third quarter valued at about $50,859,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in StepStone Group by 1,598.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 203,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,315,000 after purchasing an additional 191,873 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.