STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) Shares Sold by State Street Corp

State Street Corp trimmed its stake in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,066,103 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,011 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp’s holdings in STERIS were worth $986,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 13.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,442,805 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,414,453,000 after buying an additional 778,613 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 7,418.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 309,771 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $75,132,000 after purchasing an additional 305,651 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 29.7% in the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,150,517 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $251,663,000 after buying an additional 263,383 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of STERIS by 1,946.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 270,311 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $59,344,000 after buying an additional 257,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in STERIS during the third quarter valued at $28,251,000. 94.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Cary L. Majors sold 1,682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.32, for a total value of $365,532.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,363.04. This represents a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.00, for a total value of $5,763,004.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,930 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,710. The trade was a 35.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

STERIS Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:STE opened at $215.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $21.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.29 and a beta of 0.83. STERIS plc has a 12 month low of $197.82 and a 12 month high of $248.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $222.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $227.75.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.02. STERIS had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 13.78%. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. STERIS’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 9.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. STERIS’s payout ratio is currently 52.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Friday, November 8th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler raised shares of STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.50.

STERIS Profile

STERIS plc provides infection prevention products and services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Healthcare, Applied Sterilization Technologies, Life Sciences, and Dental. The Healthcare segment offers cleaning chemistries and sterility assurance products; automated endoscope reprocessing system and tracking products; endoscopy accessories, washers, sterilizers, and other pieces of capital equipment for the operation of a sterile processing department; and equipment used directly in the operating room, including surgical tables, lights, and connectivity solutions, as well as equipment management services.