Seascape Capital Management Lowers Holdings in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Seascape Capital Management decreased its stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,805 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 62 shares during the quarter. Seascape Capital Management’s holdings in STERIS were worth $636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of STE. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in STERIS by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,273 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in STERIS by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 757 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in STERIS by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 569,837 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $117,136,000 after purchasing an additional 18,384 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in STERIS by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 70,401 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $14,472,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in STERIS by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 17,470 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $3,591,000 after purchasing an additional 4,060 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on STE. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. JMP Securities increased their price target on STERIS from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on STERIS from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Friday, May 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $263.83.

Insider Activity at STERIS

In related news, SVP Cary L. Majors sold 12,828 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.08, for a total value of $3,208,026.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,843,909.76. This trade represents a 53.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 17,626 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.56, for a total value of $4,275,362.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,463,945.60. The trade was a 25.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

STERIS Price Performance

Shares of STERIS stock opened at $237.55 on Friday. STERIS plc has a 12 month low of $200.98 and a 12 month high of $252.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.31 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $237.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.06.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.15. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 11.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that STERIS plc will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.77%.

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.