Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Position Increased by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,125 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $24,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 2.3% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 0.3% during the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 3.0% during the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $264.99 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.94 and a 12 month high of $268.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50 day moving average is $242.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.33. The company has a market cap of $75.04 billion, a PE ratio of 37.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 83,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.96, for a total value of $20,629,403.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,534,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,264,396,133.28. This trade represents a 0.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 260,415 shares of company stock worth $63,544,899 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.