ING Groep NV Makes New $4.09 Million Investment in STERIS plc $STE

ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 16,125 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,088,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in STERIS during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in STERIS by 115.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 112 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in STERIS by 423.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in STERIS during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in STERIS by 416.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 129 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

STERIS Stock Performance

STERIS stock opened at $210.19 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. STERIS plc has a 1 year low of $195.14 and a 1 year high of $269.44. The company has a market cap of $20.52 billion, a PE ratio of 26.51 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $216.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $238.63.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. STERIS had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.74 earnings per share. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.300 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that STERIS plc will post 11.18 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total value of $291,288.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 63,647 shares in the company, valued at $13,493,164. This trade represents a 2.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Richard C. Breeden sold 1,481 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.51, for a total transaction of $310,284.31. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 38,964 shares in the company, valued at $8,163,347.64. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 5,909 shares of company stock worth $1,257,083 over the last quarter. 1.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.