Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Acquires 71,286 Shares of STERIS plc $STE

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 3,152.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 73,547 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,286 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in STERIS were worth $18,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in STERIS in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in STERIS by 115.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 112 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in STERIS by 423.8% in the 4th 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. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in STERIS in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in STERIS by 416.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 129 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on STE shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of STERIS from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. KeyCorp cut their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.67.

Insider Transactions at STERIS

In other STERIS 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 value of $734,876.58. Following the sale, the director directly owned 705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,233.05. The trade was a 81.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

STERIS Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of STE stock opened at $214.44 on Wednesday. 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 plc has a 1 year low of $195.14 and a 1 year high of $269.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $218.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.04 and a beta of 0.95.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). STERIS had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.74 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.300 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that STERIS plc will post 11.18 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. STERIS’s payout ratio is presently 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.