Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Purchases 5,176 Shares of STERIS plc $STE

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 4,621.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,288 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,176 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in STERIS were worth $1,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in STERIS by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 164 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 1,118 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 1.2% during the third quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,588 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of STERIS by 34.9% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 174 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of STERIS by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, May 21st. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of STERIS from $291.00 to $269.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of STERIS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of STERIS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other STERIS news, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 3,054 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.64, for a total transaction of $655,510.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,956,107.44. The trade was a 4.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Richard C. Breeden sold 1,481 shares of STERIS 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 sale, the director owned 38,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,163,347.64. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,328 shares of company stock valued at $1,554,051. 1.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

STERIS Stock Performance

Shares of STERIS stock opened at $212.26 on Thursday. STERIS plc has a one year low of $195.14 and a one year high of $269.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company has a market capitalization of $20.69 billion, a PE ratio of 26.77 and a beta of 0.92.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last announced its earnings results 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 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.74 earnings per share. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.300 EPS. Research analysts expect that STERIS plc will post 11.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

STERIS Dividend Announcement

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

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.