Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Purchases 134,990 Shares of STERIS plc $STE

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 45.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 430,639 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 134,990 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.44% of STERIS worth $109,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of STE. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of STERIS by 46.1% in the 1st 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. grew its holdings in shares of STERIS by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 242,732 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,015,000 after acquiring an additional 59,264 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of STERIS by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,303 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $522,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of STERIS by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 8,300 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,881,000 after acquiring an additional 2,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew 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 valued at $4,695,000 after acquiring an additional 5,803 shares in the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at STERIS

In other news, Director Richard C. Breeden sold 1,481 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director directly owned 38,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,163,347.64. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 3,054 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.64, for a total transaction of $655,510.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,021 shares in the company, valued at $13,956,107.44. This represents a 4.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 5,909 shares of company stock worth $1,257,083 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on STE. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on STERIS from $291.00 to $269.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of STERIS in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of STERIS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, STERIS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.00.

STERIS Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of STE stock opened at $205.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $215.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $236.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $20.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.95 and a beta of 0.93. STERIS plc has a 12-month low of $195.14 and a 12-month high of $269.44.

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

STERIS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.78%.

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.