Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 6,266 Shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 68,126 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,266 shares during the quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $14,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in STERIS by 171.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 838,569 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $191,370,000 after buying an additional 529,308 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position 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 during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of STERIS in the third quarter worth about $28,251,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of STERIS by 2,123.2% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 113,672 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $27,574,000 after purchasing an additional 108,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in STERIS by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,114,224 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $270,230,000 after purchasing an additional 96,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler raised shares of STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research report on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.50.

STERIS Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE STE opened at $221.28 on Wednesday. STERIS plc has a 1-year low of $197.82 and a 1-year high of $248.24. The company has a market capitalization of $21.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.52 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $211.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 8.02%. STERIS’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at STERIS

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 transaction of $365,532.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,363.04. This represents a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

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.