PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Buys 279 Shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,931 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in STERIS were worth $9,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of STERIS by 13.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,442,805 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,414,453,000 after buying an additional 778,613 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in STERIS by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,738,630 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $390,880,000 after acquiring an additional 120,616 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in STERIS by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,150,517 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $251,663,000 after purchasing an additional 263,383 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of STERIS by 9.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,114,224 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $270,230,000 after purchasing an additional 96,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 12.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 840,194 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $184,439,000 after purchasing an additional 95,412 shares in the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on STE. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com cut STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, STERIS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.00.

STERIS Stock Performance

STE opened at $214.34 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market cap of $21.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.26 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.02. STERIS had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 8.02%. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. STERIS’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other STERIS news, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.00, for a total transaction of $5,763,004.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,603,710. This represents a 35.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.