Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys New Position in STERIS plc $STE

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 893 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of STERIS by 122.5% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,832 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 1,559 shares during the last quarter. Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership acquired a new position in shares of STERIS during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,958,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of STERIS by 31.9% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 102,488 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $23,229,000 after acquiring an additional 24,809 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of STERIS during the 1st quarter valued at about $261,000. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of STERIS by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on STERIS from $276.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on STERIS from $277.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.50.

STERIS Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE STE opened at $241.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $23.79 billion, a PE ratio of 37.00 and a beta of 1.01. STERIS plc has a fifty-two week low of $200.98 and a fifty-two week high of $253.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $243.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $235.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during 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%.STERIS’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that STERIS plc will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This is an increase from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Renato Tamaro sold 3,204 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 7,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,799,762.04. This represents a 30.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mohsen Sohi sold 4,110 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.96, for a total value of $994,455.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 22,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,709 shares of company stock valued at $4,546,940. Corporate insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

STERIS Company 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.