StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) Shares Sold by New Age Alpha Advisors LLC

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC has reduced its stock position in StepStone Group Inc. by 59.6%, selling 5,801 shares and now holding 3,925 shares valued at approximately $205,000.
• Multiple hedge funds, including Wells Fargo and Bank of Montreal, have increased their stakes in StepStone Group, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• StepStone Group announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.28 per share, payable on September 15th, reflecting a commitment to returning value to its shareholders.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC decreased its position in StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Free Report) by 59.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,925 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,801 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in StepStone Group were worth $205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in STEP. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 77.4% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 14,413 shares of the company's stock worth $753,000 after buying an additional 6,289 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 38.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,169 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 42.8% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 23,527 shares of the company's stock worth $1,229,000 after buying an additional 7,053 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in StepStone Group by 2.7% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 24,558 shares of the company's stock worth $1,283,000 after buying an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in StepStone Group during the fourth quarter worth about $558,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.54% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Scott W. Hart sold 27,697 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.06, for a total transaction of $1,663,481.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 80,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,804,800. This represents a 25.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jason P. Ment sold 55,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.71, for a total transaction of $3,375,961.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,073,550.05. This trade represents a 61.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 426,144 shares of company stock valued at $25,370,101 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 16.47% of the company's stock.

StepStone Group Stock Up 4.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:STEP traded up $2.76 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $61.29. The stock had a trading volume of 536,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 607,299. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $57.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.18. The stock has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.90 and a beta of 1.37. StepStone Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.07 and a fifty-two week high of $70.38.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $237.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.99 million. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 17.10% and a positive return on equity of 16.07%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 95.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

StepStone Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from StepStone Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -31.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $84.00 price target (up previously from $81.00) on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $66.00 to $51.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, StepStone Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.00.

About StepStone Group

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.