ING Groep NV Purchases New Position in STERIS plc $STE

ING Groep NV bought a new position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 16,125 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,088,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in STERIS during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in STERIS by 423.8% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in STERIS during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in STERIS by 115.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 112 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 89 shares during the period. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at STERIS

In other news, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 3,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,956,107.44. This trade represents a 4.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction, the director directly owned 38,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,163,347.64. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 5,909 shares of company stock valued at $1,257,083 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

STERIS Price Performance

Shares of STE opened at $210.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.51 and a beta of 0.93. STERIS plc has a twelve month low of $195.14 and a twelve month high of $269.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $216.98 and a 200-day moving average of $238.63. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.86 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 13.18%.STERIS’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.74 earnings per share. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.300 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 11.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of STERIS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Piper Sandler restated 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 shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, May 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, STERIS currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.00.

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.