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Scott W. Hart, Chief Executive Officer of StepStone Group Inc. (NASDAQ:STEP), recently sold a significant portion of his holdings in the company. According to an SEC filing, Hart divested a total of 29,100 shares of Class A Common Stock over two transactions. The sales, executed under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan, occurred on May 23 and May 28, 2025, at prices ranging from $60.01 to $60.06 per share, amounting to approximately $1.75 million. The transaction comes as StepStone, with a market capitalization of $7.1 billion, trades near its 52-week high of $70.38. According to InvestingPro analysis, the stock appears overvalued at current levels, with a notably high Price/Book ratio of 39.2x.
Following these transactions, Hart retains ownership of 80,000 shares of Class A Common Stock indirectly held by a trust. Additionally, he directly holds 50,883 shares of Class A Common Stock and 3,061,782 shares of Class B Common Stock indirectly through the trust. While the company posted strong returns of over 42% in the past year, InvestingPro subscribers can access 7 additional key insights about StepStone’s financial health and future prospects through the comprehensive Pro Research Report.
In other recent news, StepStone Group reported a significant rise in earnings per share (EPS) for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2025, reaching $0.68, which exceeded both Goldman Sachs’ and consensus estimates. This robust performance was driven by record fee-related earnings (FRE) of $94 million and a strong net performance fee contribution of $42 million. Management fee revenue also benefited from $15.7 million in retroactive fees, leading to a healthy FRE margin of 44%. Analysts at Goldman Sachs have increased their EPS estimates for the company for the upcoming years and raised the price target to $63, while maintaining a neutral rating. Meanwhile, JPMorgan also raised its price target for StepStone Group to $68, retaining an Overweight rating, as the company’s management fees from commingled funds and catch-up fees surpassed expectations.
In contrast, Step Energy Services faced a challenging fourth quarter in 2024, with revenue dropping to $147 million from $256 million in the previous quarter, and reported a net loss of $45 million. Despite these challenges, the company remains optimistic about 2025, particularly in the Canadian market, and has made significant technological advances, including dual fuel fracturing capacity. Step Energy has also reduced its debt significantly since 2018 and continues to focus on further reductions. The company anticipates potential challenges in the U.S. market for the latter half of the year but remains committed to innovation and debt management.
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