Oak Ridge Investments LLC Reduces Stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Oak Ridge Investments LLC lessened its stake in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 89.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,713 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 23,186 shares during the quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $558,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in STERIS by 11.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,408 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of STERIS by 37.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 31,816 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $6,949,000 after buying an additional 8,668 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of STERIS by 46.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,792 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after buying an additional 3,123 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in STERIS by 11.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 161,477 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,452,000 after acquiring an additional 16,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in STERIS by 17.9% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 19,330 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $4,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,930 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on STE shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Friday, November 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, STERIS has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other STERIS news, SVP Cary L. Majors sold 1,682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.32, for a total transaction of $365,532.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,363.04. The trade was a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

STERIS Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of STE opened at $209.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.68 billion, a PE ratio of 47.83 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $224.82. STERIS plc has a 1 year low of $197.82 and a 1 year high of $248.24.

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

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. STERIS’s payout ratio is 52.05%.

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.