Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Buys Shares of 943 STERIS plc $STE

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 943 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of STE. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in STERIS during the 1st quarter valued at $267,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in STERIS by 42.1% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,518 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $797,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in STERIS by 36.0% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 16,055 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,639,000 after purchasing an additional 4,251 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in STERIS by 3.9% in the first quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,588 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock valued at $587,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in STERIS by 53.4% in the first quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 2,883 shares of the medical equipment provider’s stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. 94.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of STERIS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of STERIS in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. KeyCorp upped their price target on STERIS from $277.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on STERIS from $276.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.50.

STERIS Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE STE opened at $267.82 on Thursday. STERIS plc has a 12-month low of $200.98 and a 12-month high of $268.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $239.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $26.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.01 and a beta of 1.02.

STERIS (NYSE:STE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The medical equipment provider reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.38 by $0.09. STERIS had a return on equity of 14.17% and a net margin of 11.61%.The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.14 EPS. STERIS has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.150-10.30 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that STERIS plc will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

STERIS Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 18th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. STERIS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.21%.

Insider Activity at STERIS

In other STERIS news, VP Renato Tamaro sold 3,204 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.24, for a total transaction of $798,564.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 7,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,799,762.04. This trade represents a 30.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Daniel A. Carestio sold 159 shares of STERIS stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.82, for a total transaction of $38,449.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,356,034.72. The trade was a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

STERIS Profile

STERIS plc provides infection prevention products and services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Healthcare, Applied Sterilization Technologies, Life Sciences, and Dental. The Healthcare segment offers cleaning chemistries and sterility assurance products; automated endoscope reprocessing system and tracking products; endoscopy accessories, washers, sterilizers, and other pieces of capital equipment for the operation of a sterile processing department; and equipment used directly in the operating room, including surgical tables, lights, and connectivity solutions, as well as equipment management services.