Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,584 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 2,234 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $521,399,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% in the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $334,394,000 after purchasing an additional 708,432 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 206.7% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $80,564,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% during the fourth 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ECL. Argus raised Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $284.00.

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Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of ECL traded down $1.91 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $236.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,868,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,152,892. 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 is $254.06 and its 200 day moving average is $248.92. The firm has a market cap of $67.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

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.