Equitable Trust Co. Decreases Holdings in STERIS plc $STE

Equitable Trust Co. lowered its position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 43.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,371 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,635 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in STERIS were worth $834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in STERIS by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,213,521 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,022,114,000 after purchasing an additional 50,393 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,188,103 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $1,006,069,000 after buying an additional 98,220 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,479,108 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $592,980,000 after buying an additional 46,859 shares in the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 556,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in STERIS by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,346,039 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $323,345,000 after acquiring an additional 50,764 shares in the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on STE. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.20.

STERIS Stock Down 1.5%

STE stock opened at $246.97 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $255.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $251.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.45 and a beta of 1.03. STERIS plc has a one year low of $204.90 and a one year high of $269.44.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 12.15%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. STERIS has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.150-10.300 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. STERIS’s payout ratio is 35.15%.

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.