Northern Trust Corp Buys 70,523 Shares of STERIS plc $STE

Northern Trust Corp grew its position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 5.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,283,560 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 70,523 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in STERIS were worth $290,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in STERIS in the fourth quarter valued at about $261,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of STERIS by 67.2% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 3,440 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of STERIS by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,106 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in STERIS by 219.9% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,888 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,416,000 after buying an additional 4,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in STERIS by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,023 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

STERIS Price Performance

Shares of NYSE STE opened at $249.3870 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.56 billion, a PE ratio of 38.19 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. STERIS plc has a twelve month low of $200.98 and a twelve month high of $252.79. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.09.

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

STERIS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This is a positive change from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on STE. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of STERIS from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of STERIS from $276.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. KeyCorp raised their target price on STERIS from $277.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 17,626 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.56, for a total transaction of $4,275,362.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,463,945.60. This trade represents a 25.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mohsen Sohi sold 4,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.96, for a total transaction of $994,455.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 22,361 shares in the company, valued at $5,410,467.56. The trade was a 15.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,131 shares of company stock valued at $8,023,737 over the last 90 days. 1.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.