Alliancebernstein L.P. Lowers Position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its stake in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 88.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 170,831 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,276,086 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in STERIS were worth $35,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of STE. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in STERIS by 4,534.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 219,032 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $45,024,000 after acquiring an additional 214,306 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of STERIS by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,851 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of STERIS during the fourth quarter worth about $561,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in STERIS by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,384 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in STERIS in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $612,000. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of STERIS from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, STERIS has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.75.

STERIS Trading Down 3.7 %

NYSE:STE opened at $213.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of 45.26 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $223.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $220.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. STERIS plc has a 52-week low of $197.82 and a 52-week high of $248.24.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.01). STERIS had a return on equity of 13.91% and a net margin of 8.66%. On average, research analysts anticipate that STERIS plc will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. STERIS’s payout ratio is currently 48.41%.

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.