Assetmark Inc. Grows Stake in STERIS plc $STE

Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 10.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,594 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,687 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in STERIS were worth $4,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership purchased a new position in shares of STERIS in the first quarter valued at about $25,958,000. Ascent Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of STERIS in the first quarter valued at about $261,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of STERIS by 31.9% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 102,488 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $23,229,000 after acquiring an additional 24,809 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its position in shares of STERIS by 5.3% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 33,800 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,119,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of STERIS by 116.2% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 31,064 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,462,000 after acquiring an additional 16,694 shares in the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on STE. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on STERIS from $276.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 14th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on STERIS from $277.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.50.

Insider Activity at STERIS

In other news, Director Cynthia L. Feldmann sold 3,495 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.56, for a total transaction of $844,252.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,299.80. This represents a 83.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Karen L. Burton sold 7,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total value of $1,909,667.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,448,929.62. This represents a 56.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 18,868 shares of company stock valued at $4,585,389 over the last ninety days. 1.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

STERIS Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE STE opened at $237.21 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $243.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $238.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.53. STERIS plc has a 1-year low of $200.98 and a 1-year high of $253.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.33 and a beta of 1.01.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.02. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 11.61%.The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 18th. STERIS’s payout ratio is presently 38.59%.

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.