STERIS plc $STE Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lowered its position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 19.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,522 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,324 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in STERIS were worth $4,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John Adam Zangerle sold 1,419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.28, for a total value of $296,968.32. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 35,259 shares in the company, valued at $7,379,003.52. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 3,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.64, for a total transaction of $655,510.56. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Insiders sold a total of 7,328 shares of company stock worth $1,554,051 over the last 90 days. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

STERIS Price Performance

STE stock opened at $210.60 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $211.64 and a 200-day moving average of $227.69. STERIS plc has a 12-month low of $195.14 and a 12-month high of $269.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $20.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56 and a beta of 0.92.

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

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is 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.