Insider Selling: StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) CEO Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) CEO Scott W. Hart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.29, for a total transaction of $602,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 70,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,220,300. The trade was a 12.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

StepStone Group Trading Up 6.0%

Shares of StepStone Group stock traded up $3.60 on Thursday, reaching $63.24. The stock had a trading volume of 1,443,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 623,028. StepStone Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.07 and a 1 year high of $70.38. The company has a market cap of $7.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.46 and a beta of 1.36. The business's 50 day moving average is $57.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.29.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.24. StepStone Group had a negative net margin of 15.28% and a positive return on equity of 15.21%. The firm had revenue of $295.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 66.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. StepStone Group's payout ratio is -40.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of 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. Barclays set a $62.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $74.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, StepStone Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On StepStone Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in StepStone Group by 77.4% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 14,413 shares of the company's stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 6,289 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $355,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in StepStone Group by 42.8% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 23,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 7,053 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in StepStone Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $331,000. 55.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.