B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 3.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,263 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 51 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in STERIS were worth $302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in STERIS by 8.7% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of STERIS by 171.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 838,569 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $191,370,000 after buying an additional 529,308 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of STERIS by 24.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 13,410 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $3,252,000 after buying an additional 2,647 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of STERIS by 52.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 12,071 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,928,000 after buying an additional 4,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of STERIS during the third quarter worth about $9,949,000. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

STERIS Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:STE opened at $207.49 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $218.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.67. STERIS plc has a 52 week low of $197.82 and a 52 week high of $248.24. 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 company has a market cap of $20.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.37 and a beta of 0.83.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.02. STERIS had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 13.78%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that STERIS plc will post 9.1 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. STERIS’s payout ratio is 52.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Cary L. Majors sold 1,682 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.32, for a total transaction of $365,532.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,363.04. The trade was a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on STE. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler raised STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $230.00 to $260.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.50.

About STERIS

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.