Handelsbanken Fonder AB Lowers Stake in STERIS plc $STE

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 64,510 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 5,943 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in STERIS were worth $15,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of STERIS by 46.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,106 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in STERIS by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 242,732 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $55,015,000 after purchasing an additional 59,264 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in STERIS by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,303 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in STERIS by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 8,300 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,881,000 after purchasing an additional 2,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of STERIS by 38.9% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 20,716 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $4,695,000 after buying an additional 5,803 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

STERIS Price Performance

Shares of STE stock opened at $252.36 on Friday. STERIS plc has a fifty-two week low of $204.90 and a fifty-two week high of $269.44. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $24.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.20 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $255.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $251.73.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.53. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 12.15%.The business’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. STERIS has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.150-10.300 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STE has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Friday, January 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.20.

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.