Insider Selling: STERIS (NYSE:STE) Director Sells $956,795.24 in Stock

STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) Director Mohsen Sohi sold 4,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.78, for a total value of $956,795.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 24,305 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,730,632.90. The trade was a 14.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

STERIS Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE STE traded down $1.98 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $236.25. 648,288 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 801,121. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.91. STERIS plc has a one year low of $195.14 and a one year high of $269.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $215.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.88. The company has a market cap of $23.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.88 and a beta of 0.91.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. STERIS’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.000-11.300 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that STERIS plc will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is 33.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded STERIS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings lowered STERIS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on STERIS from $291.00 to $269.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of STERIS from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $275.00 target price (up from $270.00) on shares of STERIS in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STE. Norges Bank purchased a new position in STERIS in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $320,298,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $291,704,000 after purchasing an additional 758,423 shares during the period. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in STERIS in the third quarter worth $158,982,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its position 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 worth $504,486,000 after buying an additional 556,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of STERIS by 25.7% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,863,139 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $411,995,000 after buying an additional 380,504 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

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.