STERIS plc $STE Shares Bought by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 734,939 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 41,823 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in STERIS were worth $186,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in shares of STERIS by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 164 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. raised its position in shares of STERIS by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 1,118 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of STERIS by 1.2% in the third quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,588 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its position in shares of STERIS by 0.3% in the third quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 12,329 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,051,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of STERIS by 34.9% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 174 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at STERIS

In related news, Director Cynthia L. Feldmann sold 3,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.21, for a total value of $734,876.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,233.05. The trade was a 81.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on STE shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of STERIS from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of STERIS from $291.00 to $269.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.25.

STERIS Stock Performance

NYSE:STE opened at $213.04 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $218.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $241.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market cap of $20.89 billion, a PE ratio of 26.87 and a beta of 0.95. STERIS plc has a 1-year low of $195.14 and a 1-year high of $269.44.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by ($0.03). STERIS had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.74 earnings per share. STERIS’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.300 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 11.18 EPS for the current year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. STERIS’s payout ratio is presently 31.78%.

STERIS Profile

STERIS Corporation (NYSE: STE) is a global provider of infection prevention, contamination control and procedural products and services for the healthcare, life sciences, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. The company develops, manufactures and supports a broad portfolio of equipment and consumables designed to reduce risk of infection, maintain sterile environments and support critical clinical and manufacturing procedures.

Its offerings include sterilization and decontamination systems, instrument washers and washers-disinfectors, endoscope reprocessing solutions, surgical equipment and procedural disposables, and contamination-control products for cleanrooms and laboratories.