Groupe la Francaise Acquires 3,013 Shares of STERIS plc $STE

Groupe la Francaise raised its holdings in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 21,527 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,013 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in STERIS were worth $4,533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of STE. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of STERIS by 46.1% during 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 during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in STERIS by 32.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 242,732 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,015,000 after purchasing an additional 59,264 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of STERIS by 16.1% during the first 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 during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of STERIS by 40.0% during the first 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 during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of STERIS by 38.9% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 20,716 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $4,695,000 after purchasing an additional 5,803 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at STERIS

In related news, VP John Zangerle sold 1,419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.28, for a total transaction of $296,968.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 35,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,379,003.52. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mohsen Sohi sold 4,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.78, for a total transaction of $956,795.24. Following the sale, the director owned 24,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,730,632.90. This trade represents a 14.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

STERIS Price Performance

Shares of NYSE STE opened at $224.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.90 billion, a PE ratio of 27.46 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $225.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.96. STERIS plc has a twelve month low of $195.14 and a twelve month high of $269.44.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 13.34%.STERIS’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.000-11.300 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that STERIS plc will post 11.09 EPS for the current year.

STERIS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This is a positive change from STERIS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on STE. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $275.00 target price (up from $270.00) on shares of STERIS in a research note on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on STERIS from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of STERIS in a report on Monday, August 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded STERIS from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of STERIS from $291.00 to $269.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $271.33.

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.