Insider Selling: StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) COO Sells 2,290 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• StepStone Group COO Jose Fernandez sold 2,290 shares on June 3 at an average price of $42.64, totaling about $97,646. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
• STEP shares fell 5.3% in Wednesday trading to $43.63, with volume well above average. The stock remains far below its 52-week high of $77.79 and near its 52-week low of $40.58.
• The company recently reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, and it also announced a $100 million share buyback plus a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share.

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) COO Jose Fernandez sold 2,290 shares of StepStone Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total transaction of $97,645.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

StepStone Group Trading Down 5.3%

Shares of STEP traded down $2.44 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.63. 2,730,756 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,046,281. StepStone Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.58 and a fifty-two week high of $77.79. The business's 50 day moving average is $51.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.42 and a beta of 1.29.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $305.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $292.11 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 37.69% and a negative net margin of 26.88%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. StepStone Group's payout ratio is presently -16.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on STEP. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of StepStone Group in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.88.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Essential Partners LLC raised its position in StepStone Group by 17,350.0% in the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 53.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 414,722 shares of the company's stock worth $19,791,000 after purchasing an additional 144,752 shares in the last quarter. Bull Harbor Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of StepStone Group during the 1st quarter worth $468,000. Smith Group Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 12,725 shares of the company's stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 51.7% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 17,550 shares of the company's stock worth $838,000 after purchasing an additional 5,979 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.54% of the company's stock.

StepStone Group Company Profile

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.

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