STERIS plc $STE Shares Purchased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP has increased its holdings in STERIS plc to approximately $208.51 million, owning 920,121 shares after a 1.2% stake increase.
• STERIS recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.63 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $2.52 and a yield of 1.0%.
• Analysts set an average target price of $273.50 for STERIS, with recommendations ranging from "hold" to "strong buy," indicating positive market sentiment.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE - Free Report) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 920,121 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,600 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.94% of STERIS worth $208,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its holdings in STERIS by 165.3% in the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,599,730 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $534,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619,796 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of STERIS by 9.1% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,439,349 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $1,232,828,000 after purchasing an additional 452,146 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of STERIS by 35,759.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410,237 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $92,980,000 after purchasing an additional 409,093 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of STERIS in the first quarter valued at $65,435,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 4,534.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 219,032 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $45,024,000 after purchasing an additional 214,306 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on STE shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of STERIS in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. They set a "hold" rating and a $263.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on STERIS from $276.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock 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 note on Saturday, August 9th. KeyCorp increased their price target on STERIS from $277.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on STERIS from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $273.50.

Insider Activity

In other STERIS news, CAO Karen L. Burton sold 7,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total transaction of $1,909,667.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,448,929.62. This represents a 56.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Renato Tamaro sold 3,204 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $798,564.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 7,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,799,762.04. The trade was a 30.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,335 shares of company stock valued at $8,822,302 over the last quarter. 1.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

STERIS Stock Up 1.7%

NYSE:STE traded up $4.2320 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $251.7320. The stock had a trading volume of 375,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 595,325. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The company has a market capitalization of $24.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.55 and a beta of 0.92. STERIS plc has a 1-year low of $200.98 and a 1-year high of $252.79. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $234.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.29.

STERIS (NYSE:STE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 11.61%.STERIS's quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that STERIS plc will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. This is a boost from STERIS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. STERIS's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.92%.

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.