Eventide Asset Management LLC Purchases 11,362 Shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,459 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 11,362 shares during the quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC owned about 0.15% of STERIS worth $34,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in STERIS by 8.7% during the third 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 during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in STERIS by 24.6% during the 3rd 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 during the period. BDF Gestion purchased a new position in STERIS in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,644,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in STERIS by 52.0% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in STERIS by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60,302 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $13,727,000 after buying an additional 5,999 shares in the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on STE. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler upgraded STERIS from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded STERIS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $253.00.

STERIS Trading Up 0.7 %

STE traded up $1.59 on Friday, hitting $219.06. The company had a trading volume of 342,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 497,351. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $225.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $228.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. STERIS plc has a 12-month low of $195.47 and a 12-month high of $248.24. The company has a market cap of $21.62 billion, a PE ratio of 50.01 and a beta of 0.85.

STERIS (NYSE:STE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 9.15 EPS for the current year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. STERIS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.00, for a total transaction of $5,763,004.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Cary L. Majors sold 1,682 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.32, for a total transaction of $365,532.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,363.04. The trade was a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.14% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.