STERIS plc $STE Position Lifted by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 34.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,426 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 616 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of STE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in STERIS by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,957,852 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,710,247,000 after buying an additional 46,628 shares in the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 452,146 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 3,354,545 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $760,308,000 after purchasing an additional 170,392 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of STERIS during the first quarter valued at approximately $349,950,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 55.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,520,479 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $344,617,000 after buying an additional 540,999 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on STE shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 14th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of STERIS from $277.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of STERIS from $276.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on STERIS in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $263.00 price objective for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.50.

STERIS Price Performance

Shares of STE stock opened at $244.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.42 and a beta of 0.95. STERIS plc has a 1 year low of $200.98 and a 1 year high of $253.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $240.84 and its 200-day moving average is $234.46.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 11.61%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued 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 yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Cynthia L. Feldmann sold 3,495 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.56, for a total transaction of $844,252.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 705 shares in the company, valued at $170,299.80. The trade was a 83.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mohsen Sohi sold 4,110 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.96, for a total transaction of $994,455.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,410,467.56. This represents a 15.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,709 shares of company stock valued at $4,546,940. Insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

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.