National Pension Service Grows Holdings in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

National Pension Service increased its position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE - Free Report) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 159,386 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,574 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.16% of STERIS worth $38,657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in STERIS by 8.7% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 8.3% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 58,841 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $13,235,000 after buying an additional 4,494 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in STERIS by 3.2% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 106,346 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $23,909,000 after buying an additional 3,342 shares during the period. BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in STERIS during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,644,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of STERIS by 7.5% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 120,616 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.69% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,603,710. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of STERIS from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com cut STERIS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $253.00.

STERIS Stock Down 5.3 %

NYSE STE traded down $12.02 on Thursday, hitting $215.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,325,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 487,907. The business's fifty day moving average price is $233.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.49. 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 $21.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.93 and a beta of 0.85.

STERIS (NYSE:STE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.33 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 7.36%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that STERIS plc will post 9.02 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. STERIS's payout ratio is 56.58%.

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.