Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC Raises Stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,873 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in STERIS by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,864,606 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,608,434,000 after purchasing an additional 53,526 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in STERIS by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,811,818 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,277,728,000 after purchasing an additional 77,152 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in STERIS by 7.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,738,630 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $390,880,000 after purchasing an additional 120,616 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP raised its holdings in STERIS by 23.5% during the first quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 1,485,578 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $333,988,000 after purchasing an additional 282,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in STERIS by 3.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,009,157 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $226,879,000 after purchasing an additional 32,755 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at STERIS

In other news, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.68, for a total transaction of $113,368.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $139,493.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on STE. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective (up previously from $220.00) on shares of STERIS in a report on Friday, May 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of STERIS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.60.

STERIS Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:STE traded up $2.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $232.34. The stock had a trading volume of 558,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 464,844. The company has a market capitalization of $22.91 billion, a PE ratio of 60.82 and a beta of 0.83. STERIS plc has a 1 year low of $195.47 and a 1 year high of $243.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $225.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $223.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 7.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that STERIS plc will post 9.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is a positive change from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.45%.

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.