STERIS plc $STE Shares Bought by Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC raised its position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 108,763 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,182 shares during the quarter. STERIS makes up about 2.7% of Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $24,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in STE. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in STERIS by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 164 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its holdings in shares of STERIS by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 1,118 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of STERIS by 34.9% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 174 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in shares of STERIS by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of STERIS by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $291,288.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,493,164. This represents a 2.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP John Adam Zangerle sold 1,419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.28, for a total transaction of $296,968.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 35,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,379,003.52. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,328 shares of company stock valued at $1,554,051. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

STERIS Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:STE traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $215.76. 582,912 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 800,373. The stock has a market cap of $21.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.21 and a beta of 0.92. STERIS plc has a fifty-two week low of $195.14 and a fifty-two week high of $269.44. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $211.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last announced its 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 company 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%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.74 EPS. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.300 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 11.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid 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 was Monday, June 8th. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is 31.78%.

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.