STERIS (NYSE:STE) Stock: Insider Mohsen Sohi Sells 4,893 Shares

STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) Director Mohsen Sohi sold 4,893 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.22, for a total transaction of $1,239,005.46. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,154,512.10. The trade was a 16.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

STERIS Price Performance

Shares of STERIS stock opened at $263.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $25.61 billion, a PE ratio of 31.29 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $223.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.61. STERIS plc has a fifty-two week low of $195.14 and a fifty-two week high of $269.44.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. STERIS had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. Analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 17th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STERIS

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in STERIS by 21.9% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,502,897 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $737,605,000 after acquiring an additional 629,532 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in STERIS by 25.7% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,863,139 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $411,995,000 after acquiring an additional 380,504 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 43.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 771,092 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $170,512,000 after acquiring an additional 232,520 shares during the period. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in shares of STERIS in the 1st quarter valued at $30,660,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 352.5% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 176,320 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $38,958,000 after purchasing an additional 137,355 shares in the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on STE shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded STERIS from an “overweight” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded STERIS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $232.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised STERIS from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on STERIS from $269.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.50.

About STERIS

STERIS plc (NYSE: STE) provides infection prevention and procedural products and services for healthcare, pharmaceutical, research, and other industries. Its offerings include sterilizers, washers and other equipment used to clean and sterilize medical devices and surgical instruments, as well as products for operating rooms and endoscopy procedures. The company also provides equipment installation, maintenance, repair, and training, along with contract sterilization and laboratory testing services.