Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Purchases 13,500 Shares of STERIS plc $STE

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden nearly doubled its STERIS stake in the first quarter, buying 13,500 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 27,566 shares worth about $6.1 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive, with three analysts rating STERIS a Buy and one a Hold, giving the stock a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $278.
• STERIS reported quarterly EPS of $2.83, slightly below estimates, while revenue came in line at $1.59 billion and rose 6.7% year over year; the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.63 per share.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE - Free Report) by 96.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,566 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 13,500 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in STERIS were worth $6,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in STE. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of STERIS in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in STERIS by 115.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 112 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in STERIS by 423.8% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of STERIS during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in STERIS by 416.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 129 shares of the medical equipment provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp cut their price objective 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. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of STERIS in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings cut STERIS from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of STERIS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, STERIS has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 1,374 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.00, for a total transaction of $291,288.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 63,647 shares in the company, valued at $13,493,164. The trade was a 2.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through 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 company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.51, for a total value of $310,284.31. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 7,328 shares of company stock worth $1,554,051 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.12% of the company's stock.

STERIS Price Performance

STERIS stock opened at $217.94 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $21.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.48 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $211.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.67. STERIS plc has a 1 year low of $195.14 and a 1 year high of $269.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

STERIS (NYSE:STE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.74 EPS. STERIS has set its FY 2027 guidance at 11.100-11.300 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 11.18 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

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

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