Sei Investments Co. Acquires 296,344 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 50.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 886,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 296,344 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $207,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,181,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,317,811,000 after buying an additional 68,043 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 0.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,842,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $981,007,000 after purchasing an additional 35,027 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Ecolab by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,499,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $586,309,000 after purchasing an additional 83,328 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Ecolab by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,441,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $337,770,000 after purchasing an additional 38,402 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $250.79 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $254.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $250.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $71.13 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company Profile

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.