Caprock Group LLC Buys Shares of 3,458 STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,458 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $839,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of STERIS by 13.7% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,442,805 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $1,414,453,000 after acquiring an additional 778,613 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of STERIS by 7.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,738,630 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $390,880,000 after buying an additional 120,616 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in shares of STERIS by 29.7% in the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,150,517 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $251,663,000 after acquiring an additional 263,383 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in STERIS by 9.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,114,224 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $270,230,000 after acquiring an additional 96,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in STERIS by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 840,194 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $184,439,000 after purchasing an additional 95,412 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.69% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a research report on Monday. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, November 7th. KeyCorp raised their target price on STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded STERIS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $253.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at STERIS

In other news, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.00, for a total value of $5,763,004.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,930 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,710. This trade represents a 35.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

STERIS Stock Performance

Shares of STE traded down $1.43 on Friday, reaching $214.34. 502,765 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 496,885. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $227.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $228.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. STERIS plc has a 52-week low of $195.47 and a 52-week high of $248.24. The stock has a market cap of $21.16 billion, a PE ratio of 49.26 and a beta of 0.85.

STERIS (NYSE:STE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. STERIS had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 13.78%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. STERIS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.