Entropy Technologies LP Sells 3,398 Shares of STERIS plc $STE

Entropy Technologies LP reduced its stake in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 25.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,899 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,398 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in STERIS were worth $2,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of STE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of STERIS by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,286,535 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $3,114,882,000 after acquiring an additional 73,014 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of STERIS by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,614,840 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,169,957,000 after purchasing an additional 260,001 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of STERIS by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,523,620 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $637,259,000 after purchasing an additional 14,151 shares in the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its position in shares of STERIS by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 2,249,511 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $570,296,000 after purchasing an additional 120,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in STERIS by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,623,234 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $411,522,000 after purchasing an additional 440,164 shares during the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

STERIS Price Performance

STERIS stock opened at $214.16 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $211.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.40. STERIS plc has a 12 month low of $195.14 and a 12 month high of $269.44. The company has a market cap of $20.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01 and a beta of 0.92. 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 (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 firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 13.18%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.74 earnings per share. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.300 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 11.18 EPS for the current year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard C. Breeden sold 1,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.51, for a total value of $310,284.31. Following the sale, the director directly owned 38,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,163,347.64. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Adam Zangerle sold 1,419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.28, for a total value of $296,968.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 35,259 shares in the company, valued at $7,379,003.52. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,328 shares of company stock valued at $1,554,051. 1.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

STERIS 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.