STERIS plc $STE Stock Position Lowered by Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC cut its holdings in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 93,935 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,061 shares during the period. STERIS accounts for 2.0% of Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $19,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of STERIS by 42.0% during the third quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of STERIS by 4.2% in the third quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 50,360 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,025 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of STERIS by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,674 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of STERIS by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,102 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. Finally, Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in STERIS by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 20,408 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $4,286,000 after purchasing an additional 3,612 shares in the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on STE. UBS Group cut their target price on STERIS from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $275.00 price target (up from $270.00) on shares of STERIS in a research report on Friday, August 7th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of STERIS from $269.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of STERIS in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.33.

STERIS Stock Performance

STERIS stock opened at $257.42 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $221.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $224.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market cap of $25.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.54 and a beta of 0.86. STERIS plc has a fifty-two week low of $195.14 and a fifty-two week high of $269.44.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.26. STERIS had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 14.84%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other STERIS news, Director Mohsen Sohi sold 4,058 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.78, for a total transaction of $956,795.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 24,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,730,632.90. The trade was a 14.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

STERIS Profile

STERIS plc (NYSE: STE) provides infection prevention and procedural products and services for healthcare, pharmaceutical, research, and other industries. Its offerings include sterilizers, washers and other equipment used to clean and sterilize medical devices and surgical instruments, as well as products for operating rooms and endoscopy procedures.

The company also provides equipment installation, maintenance, repair, and training, along with contract sterilization and laboratory testing services.