J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Invests $315,000 in STERIS plc $STE

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG purchased a new position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,310 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,957,852 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $2,710,247,000 after buying an additional 46,628 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,439,349 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,232,828,000 after buying an additional 452,146 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 3,354,545 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $760,308,000 after buying an additional 170,392 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd purchased a new position in shares of STERIS in the 1st quarter worth $349,950,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of STERIS by 55.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,520,479 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $344,617,000 after buying an additional 540,999 shares during the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

STERIS Price Performance

NYSE:STE opened at $242.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $243.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $235.29. The stock has a market cap of $23.89 billion, a PE ratio of 37.14 and a beta of 1.01. STERIS plc has a 52 week low of $200.98 and a 52 week high of $253.00.

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

STERIS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. STERIS’s payout ratio is 38.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other STERIS news, CAO Karen L. Burton sold 7,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.73, for a total transaction of $1,909,667.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,448,929.62. This trade represents a 56.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia L. Feldmann sold 3,495 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.56, for a total value of $844,252.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,299.80. This represents a 83.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,709 shares of company stock valued at $4,546,940 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

STERIS 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.