Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Sells 861 Shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV cut its stake in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE – Get Rating) by 17.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,012 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 861 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in STERIS were worth $741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its holdings in STERIS by 2,254.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 831,224 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $138,216,000 after buying an additional 795,926 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in STERIS by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,087,287 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $845,914,000 after buying an additional 488,829 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of STERIS by 89.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 953,983 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $230,645,000 after purchasing an additional 451,235 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of STERIS by 96.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 764,794 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $141,930,000 after purchasing an additional 374,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new position in shares of STERIS in the fourth quarter valued at $1,464,000. 92.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

STERIS Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:STE opened at $205.70 on Friday. STERIS plc has a twelve month low of $159.21 and a twelve month high of $236.10. The company has a market cap of $20.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 192.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

STERIS (NYSE:STE – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 10th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.15. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.50% and a net margin of 2.16%. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that STERIS plc will post 8.66 EPS for the current year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 13th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 175.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of STERIS from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 10th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, February 9th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of STERIS from $197.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, May 12th. JMP Securities lowered their price target on STERIS from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on STERIS in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.40.

Insider Transactions at STERIS

In related news, Director Mohsen Sohi sold 2,069 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.28, for a total value of $439,207.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,361 shares in the company, valued at $4,746,793.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

About STERIS

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STERIS Plc engages in the provision of healthcare and life science product and service solutions. It operates through the following segments: Healthcare, Life Sciences, Applied Sterilization Technologies, and Dental. The Healthcare segment provides a comprehensive offering for healthcare providers worldwide, focused on sterile processing departments and procedural centers, such as operating rooms and endoscopy suites.