Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 6,334 Shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 551,453 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,334 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.56% of STERIS worth $133,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in STE. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in STERIS by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 24.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 13,410 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $3,252,000 after buying an additional 2,647 shares in the last quarter. BDF Gestion bought a new position in shares of STERIS during the second quarter worth $2,644,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in STERIS by 52.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 12,071 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,928,000 after acquiring an additional 4,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Michael J. Tokich sold 23,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,603,710. The trade was a 35.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STE has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler raised shares of STERIS from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $260.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. KeyCorp increased their price target on STERIS from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.00.

STERIS Stock Performance

NYSE STE opened at $214.34 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $227.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $228.63. STERIS plc has a fifty-two week low of $195.47 and a fifty-two week high of $248.24. The company has a market cap of $21.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.94 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.41.

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

STERIS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.05%.

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.