Frazier Financial Advisors LLC Sells 126 Shares of STERIS plc $STE

Frazier Financial Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,208 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in STE. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of STERIS by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in STERIS by 58.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in STERIS by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,893 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in STERIS by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,078 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in STERIS by 118.3% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 7,325 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,660,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on STE. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. KeyCorp raised their target price on STERIS from $277.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on STERIS from $276.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other STERIS news, Director Mohsen Sohi sold 4,110 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.96, for a total value of $994,455.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,410,467.56. The trade was a 15.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 159 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.82, for a total value of $38,449.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,356,034.72. This represents a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,868 shares of company stock worth $4,585,389. 1.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

STERIS Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE STE opened at $235.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $23.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.09 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. STERIS plc has a 1-year low of $200.98 and a 1-year high of $253.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $244.47 and its 200 day moving average is $236.06.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 11.61%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that STERIS plc will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a $0.63 dividend. This is an increase from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. STERIS’s payout ratio is presently 38.59%.

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.