Townsquare Capital LLC Reduces Position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Townsquare Capital LLC lowered its position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 33.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,144 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 8,990 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $4,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STE. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in STERIS by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 13,724 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,276 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of STERIS in the third quarter valued at about $28,251,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of STERIS by 4.1% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 71,335 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $17,302,000 after buying an additional 2,797 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of STERIS during the third quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in shares of STERIS by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 9,944 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,412,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on STE shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.00.

STERIS Stock Performance

Shares of STE stock opened at $217.47 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $225.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $228.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.41. The stock has a market cap of $21.47 billion, a PE ratio of 49.65 and a beta of 0.85. STERIS plc has a 1 year low of $195.47 and a 1 year high of $248.24.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 8.02%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.05%.

Insider Transactions at STERIS

In other STERIS news, SVP Cary L. Majors sold 1,682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.32, for a total value of $365,532.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,363.04. This represents a 12.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.00, for a total transaction of $5,763,004.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 42,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,603,710. This trade represents a 35.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

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.