BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC Cuts Stock Holdings in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC decreased its position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 1.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 76,155 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,358 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $17,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of STERIS by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,525,769 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,786,586,000 after buying an additional 143,253 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in STERIS by 0.6% in the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 5,492,005 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,240,040,000 after purchasing an additional 33,281 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in STERIS by 0.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 17,292 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in STERIS by 70.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,756,454 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $693,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in STERIS by 4.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 107,474 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on STE shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, November 9th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a report on Monday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of STERIS from $206.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. TheStreet cut shares of STERIS from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of STERIS from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.60.

STERIS Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of STERIS stock opened at $200.23 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $218.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.78 billion, a PE ratio of 36.21 and a beta of 0.87. STERIS plc has a 1-year low of $165.44 and a 1-year high of $254.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 7th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. STERIS had a net margin of 10.52% and a return on equity of 13.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that STERIS plc will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 20th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. STERIS’s payout ratio is 37.61%.

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.