111 Capital Makes New Investment in STERIS plc $STE

111 Capital acquired a new position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,149 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,237,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 3.5% during the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of STERIS by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 395 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of STERIS by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 6,280 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,423,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of STERIS by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 1,658 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of STERIS by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,999 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,586,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. 94.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

STERIS Price Performance

STE stock opened at $242.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $243.08 and a 200-day moving average of $235.22. STERIS plc has a 12-month low of $200.98 and a 12-month high of $253.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $23.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.14 and a beta of 1.01.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.02. STERIS had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 14.17%. The company had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This is a boost from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. STERIS’s payout ratio is presently 38.59%.

Insider Transactions at STERIS

In other news, Director Mohsen Sohi sold 4,110 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.96, for a total transaction of $994,455.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 22,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,410,467.56. The trade was a 15.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Renato Tamaro sold 3,204 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total value of $798,564.96. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 7,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,799,762.04. This trade represents a 30.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,709 shares of company stock worth $4,546,940. Corporate insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of STERIS in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 14th. KeyCorp raised their price target on STERIS from $277.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on STERIS from $276.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.50.

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.