Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 37,553 Shares of STERIS plc $STE

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its stake in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 203,913 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 37,553 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in STERIS were worth $42,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of STE. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in STERIS by 21.9% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,502,897 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $737,605,000 after buying an additional 629,532 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of STERIS by 25.7% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,863,139 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $411,995,000 after buying an additional 380,504 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in STERIS by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,113,845 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $246,295,000 after purchasing an additional 46,391 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in STERIS by 8.8% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,048,636 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $231,883,000 after buying an additional 85,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of STERIS by 1.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 890,562 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $196,931,000 after purchasing an additional 9,226 shares during the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

STERIS Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of STERIS stock opened at $257.23 on Wednesday. STERIS plc has a 1 year low of $195.14 and a 1 year high of $269.44. The company has a 50-day moving average of $221.55 and a 200 day moving average of $224.67. The firm has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.51 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 13.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 1.1%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on STERIS from $269.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded STERIS from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $275.00 target price (up from $270.00) on shares of STERIS in a research report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of STERIS from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.33.

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.