Stephens Inc. AR Buys 1,121 Shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,212 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,121 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in STERIS were worth $2,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in STERIS by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of STERIS by 171.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 838,569 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $191,370,000 after purchasing an additional 529,308 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of STERIS by 24.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 13,410 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,252,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in STERIS by 52.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 12,071 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,928,000 after purchasing an additional 4,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in STERIS by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,970 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,275,000 after purchasing an additional 2,583 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on STE. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Friday, November 8th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on STERIS from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $258.75.

STERIS Stock Performance

NYSE:STE opened at $223.52 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.46 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $212.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.55. STERIS plc has a 1 year low of $197.82 and a 1 year high of $248.24.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.01). STERIS had a return on equity of 13.91% and a net margin of 8.66%. On average, analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. STERIS’s payout ratio is currently 48.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other STERIS news, SVP Cary L. Majors sold 1,682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,363.04. The trade was a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.