STERIS plc $STE Stock Holdings Cut by Equitable Trust Co.

Equitable Trust Co. reduced its position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 51.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,006 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 6,342 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in STERIS were worth $1,443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in STERIS by 26.4% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 323,980 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $77,826,000 after purchasing an additional 67,709 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 21.8% during the 2nd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 22,155 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $5,322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 24.3% during the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 17,230 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $4,139,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 73.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,106 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 2,588 shares in the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on STE. Wall Street Zen upgraded STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on STERIS from $276.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on STERIS from $277.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.50.

STERIS Price Performance

NYSE STE opened at $237.92 on Wednesday. STERIS plc has a fifty-two week low of $200.98 and a fifty-two week high of $253.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $244.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $236.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $23.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.43 and a beta of 1.01.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that STERIS plc will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. This is a boost from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at STERIS

In related news, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 159 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.82, for a total transaction of $38,449.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,356,034.72. This trade represents a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $844,252.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,299.80. This trade represents a 83.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,868 shares of company stock valued at $4,585,389 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.07% 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.