Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by Corundum Group Inc.

Corundum Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 47.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,444 shares during the period. Corundum Group Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Ecolab by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 15,032 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,164 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,943,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 10,117 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,408,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 217.5% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 162,862 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $38,761,000 after acquiring an additional 111,564 shares during the period. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 61.5% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,081 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,209,000 after acquiring an additional 1,935 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE ECL traded down $1.52 on Monday, hitting $237.63. 2,312,522 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 953,363. The company has a market capitalization of $67.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $241.96 and a 200 day moving average of $245.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $195.49 and a twelve month high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 36.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total value of $25,698,995.82. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,079,209,816.61. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.47.

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.