Bryce Point Capital LLC Buys 6,964 Shares of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP)

Key Points

• Bryce Point Capital LLC significantly increased its stake in StepStone Group by 78.4%, owning 15,849 shares valued at approximately $837,000.
• In recent insider trading, key executives, including CEO Scott W. Hart, sold shares, with Hart reducing his position by 25.72%.
• StepStone Group reported earnings of $0.68 per share, exceeding expectations and reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 66.8%.

Bryce Point Capital LLC grew its holdings in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 78.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,849 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,964 shares during the quarter. Bryce Point Capital LLC's holdings in StepStone Group were worth $837,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of STEP. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of StepStone Group during the first quarter valued at $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 38.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,169 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 14.0% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vicus Capital increased its holdings in StepStone Group by 9.8% in the first quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 4,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company's stock.

StepStone Group Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP traded down $1.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $59.62. 209,576 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 606,131. The company has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.96 and a beta of 1.36. StepStone Group Inc. has a one year low of $40.07 and a one year high of $70.38. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $57.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.41.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $295.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $231.87 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 15.28% and a positive return on equity of 15.21%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 66.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. Analysts anticipate 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, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is currently -40.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on STEP shares. Barclays set a $62.00 price objective on StepStone Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on StepStone Group from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, StepStone Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.43.

Insider Transactions at StepStone Group

In other StepStone Group news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 27,697 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.06, for a total value of $1,663,481.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 80,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,804,800. This trade represents a 25.72% 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. Also, insider Michael I. Mccabe sold 199,741 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.92, for a total value of $11,968,480.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 491,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,455,593.44. This represents a 28.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 426,144 shares of company stock valued at $25,370,101 in the last ninety days. 18.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

StepStone Group Company Profile

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.