3,746 STERIS plc $STE Shares Acquired by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 174,713 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,746 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. owned approximately 0.18% of STERIS worth $36,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its holdings in STERIS by 109.7% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 20,978 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $4,417,000 after purchasing an additional 10,976 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in STERIS by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 633,530 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $160,613,000 after purchasing an additional 183,680 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS acquired a new position in STERIS during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,506,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in STERIS by 116.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 209,923 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $53,220,000 after purchasing an additional 113,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of STERIS by 9.5% in the first quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 71,748 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,866,000 after purchasing an additional 6,196 shares during the period. 94.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $275.00 target price (up from $270.00) on shares of STERIS in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of STERIS from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.33.

STERIS Stock Performance

STE traded down $2.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $208.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 909,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,534. The stock has a market cap of $20.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $218.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. STERIS plc has a twelve month low of $195.14 and a twelve month high of $269.44.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.10. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 13.34%.The company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.000-11.300 EPS. Research analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 11.12 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. This is an increase from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other STERIS news, Director Mohsen Sohi sold 4,058 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.78, for a total value of $956,795.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,730,632.90. This represents a 14.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

STERIS Profile

STERIS plc (NYSE: STE) provides products and services designed to support infection prevention, surgical procedures, and the manufacture of healthcare and pharmaceutical products. The company serves healthcare providers, pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturers, and other organizations that require controlled, sterile environments.

Its Healthcare segment offers sterilization and decontamination equipment, operating-room products, surgical instruments, endoscopy products, consumables, and related maintenance and procedural services.