STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) Stock Holdings Lowered by Diker Management LLC

Diker Management LLC lessened its stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 0.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 269,146 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 226 shares during the quarter. STERIS comprises about 50.1% of Diker Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Diker Management LLC owned approximately 0.27% of STERIS worth $59,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in STE. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in STERIS in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of STERIS by 77.9% during the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 121 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of STERIS by 112.7% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 134 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of STERIS in the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new stake in STERIS in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at STERIS

In other STERIS news, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 473 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.68, for a total transaction of $113,368.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $139,493.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.00, for a total value of $5,763,004.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,603,710. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.68, for a total transaction of $113,368.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $139,493.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com upgraded STERIS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.00.

STERIS Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of STERIS stock opened at $236.30 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.86 and a beta of 0.83. STERIS plc has a twelve month low of $195.47 and a twelve month high of $248.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $237.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.66.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.16. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 7.36%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 9.05 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a $0.57 dividend. This is a boost from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is 59.69%.

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.