Eventide Asset Management LLC Acquires 11,362 Shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 8.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 143,459 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,362 shares during the quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $34,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. West Coast Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 6,175 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,356,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 763 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waterloo Capital L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 1,916 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other STERIS news, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.00, for a total transaction of $5,763,004.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,930 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,710. The trade was a 35.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Cary L. Majors sold 1,682 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.32, for a total transaction of $365,532.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,363.04. The trade was a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on STE shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com cut STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.00.

STERIS Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:STE opened at $217.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.41. STERIS plc has a fifty-two week low of $195.47 and a fifty-two week high of $248.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $225.36 and its 200 day moving average is $228.43.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 8.02%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. STERIS’s payout ratio is 52.05%.

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.