STERIS plc $STE Stock Holdings Lowered by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Gotham Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in STERIS plc by 7.5%, now holding 95,385 shares valued at approximately $21.6 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• STERIS recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.57 to $0.63, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.0%.
• After a positive earnings report, analysts currently rate STERIS with an average of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $273.50.

Gotham Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE - Free Report) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 95,385 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after selling 7,778 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of STERIS worth $21,619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Park Edge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of STERIS by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC now owns 4,709 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 395 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 6,280 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 1,658 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,999 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on STE. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of STERIS from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of STERIS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of STERIS from $276.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of STERIS from $277.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $273.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at STERIS

In other STERIS news, Director Cynthia L. Feldmann sold 3,495 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.56, for a total transaction of $844,252.20. Following the sale, the director directly 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 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 stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $798,564.96. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 7,221 shares in the company, valued at $1,799,762.04. This trade represents a 30.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,709 shares of company stock valued at $4,546,940 over the last three months. 1.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

STERIS Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE STE traded up $1.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $245.04. 331,177 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 418,598. The company has a market capitalization of $24.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.53 and a beta of 0.95. The business's 50-day moving average price is $236.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $232.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. STERIS plc has a twelve month low of $200.98 and a twelve month high of $252.79.

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

STERIS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from STERIS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. STERIS's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.59%.

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.