Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 46,391 Shares of STERIS plc $STE

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 4.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,113,845 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 46,391 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.14% of STERIS worth $246,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in STERIS by 423.8% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of STERIS in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of STERIS by 416.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 129 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of STERIS by 342.3% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meramec Financial Planners LLC bought a new stake in shares of STERIS during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. 94.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

STERIS Price Performance

STERIS stock opened at $210.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $211.64 and its 200 day moving average is $227.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. STERIS plc has a 52-week low of $195.14 and a 52-week high of $269.44.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $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. Sell-side analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 11.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.78%.

Insider Activity

In other STERIS news, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $291,288.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 63,647 shares in the company, valued at $13,493,164. The trade was a 2.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP John Adam Zangerle sold 1,419 shares of the company’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 value of $296,968.32. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 35,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,379,003.52. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,328 shares of company stock valued at $1,554,051. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.