Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 551,453 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,334 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in STERIS were worth $133,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Coast Financial LLC boosted its holdings in STERIS by 2.8% in the third quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC grew its position in STERIS by 0.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in STERIS by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 763 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of STERIS by 16.5% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 402 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its holdings in shares of STERIS by 3.2% in the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 1,916 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on STE shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Friday, November 8th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research note on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com downgraded STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $260.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, STERIS presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.00.

Insider Transactions at STERIS

In related news, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.00, for a total value of $5,763,004.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,930 shares in the company, valued at $10,603,710. The trade was a 35.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

STERIS Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of STE stock opened at $214.34 on Monday. STERIS plc has a twelve month low of $195.47 and a twelve month high of $248.24. The stock has a market cap of $21.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.94 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $227.28 and a 200 day moving average of $228.63. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

STERIS Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.05%.

About STERIS

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.