Wellington Management Group LLP Reduces Position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its holdings in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 10.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,726 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 544 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in STERIS were worth $1,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in STERIS during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in shares of STERIS in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of STERIS by 154.7% in the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 191 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of STERIS during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of STERIS during the 3rd quarter valued at $67,000. 94.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on STE. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a research note on Monday, November 18th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Friday, November 8th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.50.

STERIS Stock Performance

STE stock opened at $204.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.65 and a beta of 0.83. STERIS plc has a twelve month low of $197.82 and a twelve month high of $248.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $219.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $226.82.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.02. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 8.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. STERIS’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that STERIS plc will post 9.1 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. STERIS’s payout ratio is presently 52.05%.

Insider Activity at STERIS

In other STERIS news, SVP Cary L. Majors sold 1,682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.32, for a total transaction of $365,532.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,363.04. This represents a 12.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.