STERIS plc $STE Stock: Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Cuts Stake

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 200,723 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,444 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of STERIS worth $42,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in STERIS by 21.9% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,502,897 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $737,605,000 after acquiring an additional 629,532 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of STERIS by 25.7% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,863,139 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $411,995,000 after purchasing an additional 380,504 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in STERIS by 43.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 771,092 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $170,512,000 after buying an additional 232,520 shares in the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new position in shares of STERIS in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,660,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of STERIS by 352.5% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 176,320 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $38,958,000 after acquiring an additional 137,355 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several 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, October 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Monday, August 24th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on STERIS from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $275.00 price target (up from $270.00) on shares of STERIS in a report on Friday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.33.

STERIS Stock Up 7.5%

STERIS stock opened at $248.69 on Thursday. STERIS plc has a fifty-two week low of $195.14 and a fifty-two week high of $269.44. The firm has a market cap of $24.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $219.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.26. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 13.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other STERIS news, Director Mohsen Sohi sold 4,058 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.78, for a total transaction of $956,795.24. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,305 shares in the company, valued at $5,730,632.90. This trade represents a 14.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

STERIS Profile

STERIS plc (NYSE: STE) provides products and services designed to support infection prevention, procedural care and the safe manufacture of healthcare and life sciences products. Its offerings include surgical equipment and operating-room solutions, sterilization and decontamination systems, endoscopy products, cleaning and disinfection technologies, and related consumable products.

The company also provides outsourced sterilization and laboratory services through its Applied Sterilization Technologies business.