M.D. Sass LLC Purchases Shares of 205,936 STERIS plc $STE

M.D. Sass LLC purchased a new stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 205,936 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $52,209,000. STERIS accounts for approximately 4.1% of M.D. Sass LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in STERIS by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,286,535 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,114,882,000 after buying an additional 73,014 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in STERIS by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,354,839 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,077,564,000 after buying an additional 166,736 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in STERIS by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,523,620 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $637,259,000 after buying an additional 14,151 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its position in STERIS by 36.0% in 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 buying an additional 556,088 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 221,199 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Cynthia L. Feldmann sold 3,098 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.21, for a total transaction of $734,876.58. Following the sale, the director directly owned 705 shares in the company, valued at $167,233.05. This trade represents a 81.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

STERIS Price Performance

STERIS stock opened at $209.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.46 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $240.37. 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.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.86 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion for 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%.STERIS’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.74 earnings per share. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.300 EPS. Equities analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 11.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors 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 yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on STE. KeyCorp decreased 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. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of STERIS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

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.