STERIS plc $STE Stock Position Decreased by USS Investment Management Ltd

USS Investment Management Ltd trimmed its stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 27.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,998 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 8,559 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in STERIS were worth $5,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of STE. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 165.3% during the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,599,730 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $534,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619,796 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of STERIS during the first quarter valued at $349,950,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in STERIS by 9.1% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,439,349 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,232,828,000 after buying an additional 452,146 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in STERIS by 35,759.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410,237 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $92,980,000 after buying an additional 409,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in STERIS during the first quarter valued at about $65,435,000. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at STERIS

In other news, VP Renato Tamaro sold 3,204 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $798,564.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 7,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,799,762.04. This trade represents a 30.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mohsen Sohi sold 4,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.96, for a total value of $994,455.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,410,467.56. This trade represents a 15.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,709 shares of company stock valued at $4,546,940 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

STERIS Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of STERIS stock opened at $245.04 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $236.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.32. The company has a market cap of $24.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.53 and a beta of 0.95. 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 $252.79.

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

STERIS Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This is a boost from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of STERIS from $276.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Friday, May 16th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of STERIS from $277.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.50.

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.