Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 7,444 Shares of STERIS plc $STE

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 3.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 200,723 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,444 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in STERIS were worth $42,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of STE. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of STERIS by 21.9% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,502,897 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $737,605,000 after purchasing an additional 629,532 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position 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 valued at $411,995,000 after buying an additional 380,504 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of STERIS by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,113,845 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $246,295,000 after buying an additional 46,391 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in STERIS by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,048,636 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $231,883,000 after acquiring an additional 85,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of STERIS by 1.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 890,562 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $196,931,000 after purchasing an additional 9,226 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mohsen Sohi sold 4,058 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.78, for a total transaction of $956,795.24. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,730,632.90. This represents a 14.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

STERIS Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:STE opened at $248.69 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $219.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $224.81. The company has a market cap of $24.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.20 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. STERIS plc has a 52 week low of $195.14 and a 52 week high of $269.44.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. STERIS had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 14.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 11.17 EPS for the current year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 17th. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on STE shares. Wall Street Zen cut STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 11th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of STERIS from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $275.00 price objective (up from $270.00) on shares of STERIS in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, STERIS has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.33.

STERIS Profile

STERIS plc (NYSE: STE) provides products and services designed to support infection prevention, procedural care and the safe manufacture of healthcare and life sciences products. Its offerings include surgical equipment and operating-room solutions, sterilization and decontamination systems, endoscopy products, cleaning and disinfection technologies, and related consumable products.

The company also provides outsourced sterilization and laboratory services through its Applied Sterilization Technologies business.