StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) COO Jose Fernandez Sells 70,402 Shares

StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP) COO Jose Fernandez sold 70,402 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.30, for a total transaction of $4,386,044.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

StepStone Group Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ STEP opened at $62.23 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.88. StepStone Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.07 and a twelve month high of $68.40. The company has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.78 and a beta of 1.36.

StepStone Group (NASDAQ:STEP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $282.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $272.15 million. StepStone Group had a positive return on equity of 21.53% and a negative net margin of 40.06%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that StepStone Group Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

StepStone Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. StepStone Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of StepStone Group from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of StepStone Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of StepStone Group from $70.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of StepStone Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On StepStone Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STEP. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of StepStone Group by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in StepStone Group by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 24,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in StepStone Group by 35.5% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its stake in shares of StepStone Group by 1.1% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 22,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,150,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cim LLC grew its holdings in shares of StepStone Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 32,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. 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.