Southeast Asset Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in STERIS plc $STE

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 7.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,751 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,078 shares during the quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $3,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd purchased a new position in shares of STERIS during the first quarter worth approximately $349,950,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in STERIS by 55.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,520,479 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $344,617,000 after purchasing an additional 540,999 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in STERIS during the 1st quarter worth $65,435,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in STERIS by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,163,128 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,921,827,000 after purchasing an additional 205,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 3,354,545 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $760,308,000 after buying an additional 170,392 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at STERIS

In other news, VP John Adam Zangerle sold 15,000 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.14, for a total transaction of $3,977,100.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 33,669 shares in the company, valued at $8,926,998.66. The trade was a 30.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 159 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.82, for a total transaction of $38,449.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,356,034.72. This represents a 0.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 20,195 shares of company stock worth $5,312,571 in the last three months. 1.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of STERIS from $276.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.50.

STERIS Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of STE stock opened at $263.27 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $247.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $241.92. STERIS plc has a 1-year low of $200.98 and a 1-year high of $268.30. The company has a market cap of $25.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.32 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.53.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. STERIS had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 14.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.14 earnings per share. STERIS has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.150-10.30 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is 36.21%.

About STERIS

STERIS plc provides infection prevention products and services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Healthcare, Applied Sterilization Technologies, Life Sciences, and Dental. The Healthcare segment offers cleaning chemistries and sterility assurance products; automated endoscope reprocessing system and tracking products; endoscopy accessories, washers, sterilizers, and other pieces of capital equipment for the operation of a sterile processing department; and equipment used directly in the operating room, including surgical tables, lights, and connectivity solutions, as well as equipment management services.