STERIS plc $STE Shares Sold by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 502,704 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,597 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in STERIS were worth $127,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of STERIS during the fourth quarter worth about $320,298,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in STERIS by 178.6% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,183,070 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $291,704,000 after acquiring an additional 758,423 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in STERIS during the 3rd quarter valued at about $158,982,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd grew its stake in STERIS by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,100,099 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $504,486,000 after acquiring an additional 556,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in STERIS by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,567,238 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $387,797,000 after purchasing an additional 221,199 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of STERIS from $291.00 to $269.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of STERIS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, STERIS currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

STERIS Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of STERIS stock opened at $207.50 on Friday. STERIS plc has a 1 year low of $195.14 and a 1 year high of $269.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company has a market capitalization of $20.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.17 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s fifty day moving average is $216.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $237.38.

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

STERIS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. STERIS’s payout ratio is 31.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other STERIS news, Director Richard C. Breeden sold 1,481 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.51, for a total transaction of $310,284.31. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 38,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,163,347.64. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 3,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.64, for a total transaction of $655,510.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,956,107.44. The trade was a 4.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,909 shares of company stock worth $1,257,083. 1.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

STERIS Company 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.