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

Key Points

• StepStone Group Inc. CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of stock for approximately $612,800, representing a 14.29% decrease in his ownership.
• The company reported $0.68 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.44, contributing to a revenue increase of 66.8% year-over-year.
• StepStone Group declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.55%, and a negative payout ratio of -40.17%.

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.28, for a total value of $612,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 60,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,676,800. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

StepStone Group Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ STEP traded up $0.14 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 325,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 513,882. StepStone Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.07 and a 52 week high of $70.38. The firm has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.38 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $57.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.38.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 15.21% and a negative net margin of 15.28%. The company had revenue of $295.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. StepStone Group's revenue for the quarter was up 66.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. StepStone Group's dividend payout ratio is -40.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Trading of StepStone Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STEP. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 444.4% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 969 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,650 shares of the company's stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 84,687 shares of the company's stock worth $4,902,000 after purchasing an additional 7,524 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in StepStone Group in the fourth quarter worth $793,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in StepStone Group by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,938,181 shares of the company's stock worth $401,582,000 after purchasing an additional 411,133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company's stock.

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.