Rhumbline Advisers Has $47.92 Million Holdings in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE - Free Report) by 6.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 211,431 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,921 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.22% of STERIS worth $47,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Bowman & Co S.C. boosted its holdings in STERIS by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Bowman & Co S.C. now owns 4,395 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $997,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 35,759.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 410,237 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $92,980,000 after buying an additional 409,093 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 70.1% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 262 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 683 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $155,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on STE shares. JMP Securities raised their target price on STERIS from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered STERIS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of STERIS in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on STERIS in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. They set a "hold" rating and a $263.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $263.83.

STERIS Price Performance

Shares of STERIS stock traded up $1.07 during trading on Thursday, hitting $243.17. The stock had a trading volume of 760,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 546,716. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $23.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.63 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a fifty day moving average of $229.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $221.22. STERIS plc has a fifty-two week low of $200.98 and a fifty-two week high of $252.79.

STERIS (NYSE:STE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.15. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.91% and a net margin of 8.66%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. STERIS's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. STERIS's payout ratio is 36.77%.

Insider Activity at STERIS

In other news, SVP Cary L. Majors sold 12,828 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.08, for a total value of $3,208,026.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,843,909.76. This represents a 53.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.