STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) Shares Sold by Davis R M Inc.

Davis R M Inc. lowered its position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 41.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,820 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 15,246 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in STERIS were worth $4,945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of STERIS by 9.1% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,439,349 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,232,828,000 after purchasing an additional 452,146 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of STERIS by 165.3% in the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,599,730 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $534,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619,796 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of STERIS by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,359,748 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $483,775,000 after purchasing an additional 56,123 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of STERIS by 45.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,216,821 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $250,130,000 after purchasing an additional 378,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of STERIS by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,213,037 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $249,352,000 after purchasing an additional 83,601 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on STE shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Friday, May 16th. KeyCorp raised their target price on STERIS from $277.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised STERIS from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $276.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Cary L. Majors sold 12,828 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.08, for a total value of $3,208,026.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,843,909.76. The trade was a 53.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 17,626 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.56, for a total value of $4,275,362.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,463,945.60. The trade was a 25.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

STERIS Price Performance

STE stock opened at $229.28 on Thursday. STERIS plc has a 52-week low of $200.98 and a 52-week high of $252.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $236.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $227.70. The stock has a market cap of $22.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.98 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.15. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 11.26%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that STERIS plc will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This is a boost from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. STERIS’s payout ratio is presently 36.77%.

STERIS Company 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.