StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) Shares Gap Down Following Insider Selling

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $46.07, but opened at $42.64. StepStone Group shares last traded at $42.81, with a volume of 474,484 shares changing hands.

Specifically, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 2,290 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total value of $97,645.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jose A. Fernandez sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.60, for a total value of $4,860,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 102,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,294. This represents a 49.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STEP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on StepStone Group in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Oppenheimer cut their target price on StepStone Group from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays increased their target price on StepStone Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut StepStone Group from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.88.

StepStone Group Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.82 and a beta of 1.29.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.06. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 37.69% and a negative net margin of 26.88%.The business had revenue of $305.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.11 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that StepStone Group Inc. will post 2.57 earnings per share for the current year.

StepStone Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -16.47%.

StepStone Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of STEP. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 16,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of StepStone Group by 58.6% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its position in StepStone Group by 105.0% in the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 414 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in StepStone Group by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 18,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $870,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. 55.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.