R Squared Ltd Buys Shares of 380 STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 380 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $78,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STE. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 529,308 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of STERIS by 7,418.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 309,771 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $75,132,000 after purchasing an additional 305,651 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of STERIS during the third quarter worth about $28,251,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of STERIS by 2,123.2% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 113,672 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $27,574,000 after purchasing an additional 108,559 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of STERIS by 9.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,114,224 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $270,230,000 after purchasing an additional 96,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at STERIS

In other STERIS news, SVP Cary L. Majors sold 1,682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.32, for a total value of $365,532.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,363.04. This trade represents a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com lowered STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $230.00 to $260.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.50.

STERIS Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:STE opened at $220.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.41. The company has a market cap of $21.80 billion, a PE ratio of 50.42 and a beta of 0.84. STERIS plc has a 52-week low of $197.82 and a 52-week high of $248.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $224.75.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 8.02%. STERIS’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is 52.05%.

About STERIS

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.