STERIS plc $STE Stock Position Lowered by apricus wealth LLC

apricus wealth LLC decreased its stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 7.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,513 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. apricus wealth LLC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position in STERIS by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in STERIS by 16.5% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 395 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in STERIS by 1.0% in the first quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 6,280 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in STERIS by 0.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,999 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,586,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of STERIS by 4.7% in the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 1,410 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other STERIS news, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 159 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.82, for a total value of $38,449.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,356,034.72. The trade was a 0.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mohsen Sohi sold 4,110 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.96, for a total transaction of $994,455.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 22,361 shares in the company, valued at $5,410,467.56. The trade was a 15.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,868 shares of company stock worth $4,585,389 in the last ninety days. 1.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on STE shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of STERIS from $277.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of STERIS from $276.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.50.

STERIS Trading Up 0.9%

STE opened at $242.34 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $245.10 and its 200-day moving average is $236.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. STERIS plc has a 1-year low of $200.98 and a 1-year high of $253.00. The company has a market cap of $23.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.11 and a beta of 1.01.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. STERIS had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 14.17%. The company’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that STERIS plc will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.59%.

STERIS 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.