Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 21,886 Shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE - Free Report) by 764.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,748 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 21,886 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in STERIS were worth $5,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in STERIS by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,525,769 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $2,786,586,000 after buying an additional 143,253 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in STERIS by 0.4% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,229,089 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $1,022,467,000 after buying an additional 17,292 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in STERIS by 70.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,756,454 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $693,780,000 after buying an additional 1,556,136 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in STERIS by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,364,283 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $436,660,000 after buying an additional 107,474 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in STERIS by 4.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,295,162 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $247,739,000 after buying an additional 55,566 shares during the period. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

STERIS Trading Down 1.4 %

STE traded down $3.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $206.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 850,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 437,461. STERIS plc has a twelve month low of $180.54 and a twelve month high of $254.00. The stock has a market cap of $20.37 billion, a PE ratio of 36.11 and a beta of 0.79. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $226.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.43 and a quick ratio of 1.49.

STERIS (NYSE:STE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.05. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 10.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. STERIS's payout ratio is 36.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a report on Friday, February 9th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of STERIS in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $253.00 price target on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of STERIS from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.60.

About STERIS

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.