Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 93,864 Shares of STERIS plc $STE

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 881,336 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 93,864 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in STERIS were worth $223,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of STE. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in STERIS by 46.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,106 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in STERIS by 32.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 242,732 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $55,015,000 after buying an additional 59,264 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in STERIS by 16.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,303 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in STERIS by 40.0% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 8,300 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,881,000 after buying an additional 2,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in STERIS by 38.9% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 20,716 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $4,695,000 after buying an additional 5,803 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at STERIS

In other STERIS news, Director Cynthia L. Feldmann sold 3,098 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.21, for a total value of $734,876.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 705 shares in the company, valued at $167,233.05. This represents a 81.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on STE. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of STERIS from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.20.

STERIS Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:STE opened at $212.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.89 billion, a PE ratio of 29.70 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $225.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $244.63. STERIS plc has a 1 year low of $209.61 and a 1 year high of $269.44.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 12.15%.STERIS’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is 35.15%.

STERIS Company Profile

STERIS Corporation (NYSE: STE) is a global provider of infection prevention, contamination control and procedural products and services for the healthcare, life sciences, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. The company develops, manufactures and supports a broad portfolio of equipment and consumables designed to reduce risk of infection, maintain sterile environments and support critical clinical and manufacturing procedures.

Its offerings include sterilization and decontamination systems, instrument washers and washers-disinfectors, endoscope reprocessing solutions, surgical equipment and procedural disposables, and contamination-control products for cleanrooms and laboratories.