California State Teachers Retirement System Has $37.83 Million Holdings in STERIS plc $STE

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 2.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 171,076 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,743 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in STERIS were worth $37,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of STE. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in STERIS by 423.8% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in STERIS during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of STERIS by 416.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 129 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in STERIS by 342.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meramec Financial Planners LLC acquired a new position in STERIS during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of STERIS from $291.00 to $269.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of STERIS in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of STERIS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard C. Breeden sold 1,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.51, for a total transaction of $310,284.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 38,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,163,347.64. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John Adam Zangerle sold 1,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.28, for a total value of $296,968.32. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 35,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,379,003.52. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 7,328 shares of company stock worth $1,554,051 in the last three months. 1.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

STERIS Stock Down 1.1%

STE opened at $228.75 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $212.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.56. STERIS plc has a twelve month low of $195.14 and a twelve month high of $269.44. The stock has a market cap of $22.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.85 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last announced its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 13.18%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.74 earnings per share. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.300 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a positive change from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.78%.

About STERIS

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.