Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 5,000 STERIS plc $STE

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,000 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of STERIS in the 4th quarter valued at $320,298,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of STERIS by 178.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,183,070 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $291,704,000 after purchasing an additional 758,423 shares during the period. Boston Partners bought a new stake in STERIS in the third quarter valued at about $158,982,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its holdings in STERIS by 36.0% in the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,100,099 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $504,486,000 after purchasing an additional 556,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in STERIS by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,614,840 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,169,957,000 after buying an additional 260,001 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at STERIS

In other STERIS news, Director Richard C. Breeden sold 1,481 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.51, for a total value of $310,284.31. Following the sale, the director owned 38,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,163,347.64. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 35,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,379,003.52. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold 7,328 shares of company stock valued at $1,554,051 in the last 90 days. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

STERIS Stock Performance

Shares of STE opened at $217.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.09. STERIS plc has a twelve month low of $195.14 and a twelve month high of $269.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $211.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $231.83. The firm has a market cap of $21.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.48 and a beta of 0.92.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last issued 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). STERIS had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 13.18%.The company had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.74 EPS. The firm’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. On average, analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 11.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

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 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their target price on STERIS from $291.00 to $269.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings cut STERIS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.