Bleakley Financial Group LLC Buys 134 Shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 8.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,680 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 15.8% in the third quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,078 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of STERIS in the third quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 8.9% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,011 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 54.8% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 291 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 2.6% in the third quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 61,860 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,558 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other STERIS news, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 473 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 582 shares in the company, valued at $139,493.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,603,710. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.68, for a total value of $113,368.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $139,493.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

STERIS Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE STE opened at $221.54 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $235.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $226.21. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $21.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.97 and a beta of 0.84. STERIS plc has a one year low of $195.47 and a one year high of $248.24.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.16. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 7.36%. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 9.06 EPS for the current year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a positive change from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.58%.

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.