Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 29.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 361,663 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 83,279 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.13% of Ecolab worth $84,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.4% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
ECL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ecolab from $313.00 to $265.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.71.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Ecolab
Ecolab Stock Performance
NYSE ECL traded up $3.61 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $238.93. The company had a trading volume of 178,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,143,857. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $254.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.11. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The stock has a market cap of $67.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Ecolab Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.
About Ecolab
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Free Report)
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.
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