ING Groep NV Takes Position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

ING Groep NV bought a new stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 4,389 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,065,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in STERIS by 13.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,442,805 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,414,453,000 after purchasing an additional 778,613 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in STERIS by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,738,630 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $390,880,000 after acquiring an additional 120,616 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in STERIS by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,150,517 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $251,663,000 after acquiring an additional 263,383 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in STERIS by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,114,224 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $270,230,000 after acquiring an additional 96,336 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of STERIS by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 960,219 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $215,879,000 after purchasing an additional 16,632 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at STERIS

In other news, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,603,710. The trade was a 35.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on STE. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Friday, November 8th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler raised STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $260.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.00.

STERIS Stock Performance

NYSE STE opened at $220.12 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $230.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $228.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company has a market capitalization of $21.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.26 and a beta of 0.85. STERIS plc has a 1-year low of $195.47 and a 1-year high of $248.24.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.02. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 8.02%. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 9.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.