Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Lowers Position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. trimmed its position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,800 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 49 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in STERIS were worth $3,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in STE. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 0.7% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 15,327 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $3,706,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 25.6% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,919 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 8.1% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 13,523 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $3,269,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 24.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,345 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 1.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 143,253 shares during the period. 94.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

STERIS Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE STE opened at $213.48 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 2.43 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.09 billion, a PE ratio of 37.39 and a beta of 0.79. STERIS plc has a 1 year low of $180.54 and a 1 year high of $254.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $227.08 and its 200 day moving average is $218.58.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.35 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 10.48%. STERIS’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. STERIS’s payout ratio is presently 36.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on STE. 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 STERIS in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $253.00 price objective for the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded STERIS from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, STERIS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.60.

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.