Certior Financial Group LLC Takes $459,000 Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Certior Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,959 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $459,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $521,399,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in Ecolab by 206.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $80,564,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in Ecolab by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $936,300,000 after purchasing an additional 304,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 50.2% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 886,653 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $207,758,000 after acquiring an additional 296,344 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

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Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $2.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $234.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,347,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,147,598. 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 company has a market capitalization of $66.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $254.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $249.16.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current 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 is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $284.00.

Ecolab 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.