Czech National Bank Has $12.80 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,642 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 3,055 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 68,043 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 35,027 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $608,851,000 after buying an additional 122,715 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Ecolab by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $381,552,000 after buying an additional 129,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,088 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $358,250,000 after acquiring an additional 8,332 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $233.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,080,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,116,172. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $195.49 and a one year high of $262.61. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $242.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $245.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $66.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a positive change from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 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 shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. StockNews.com cut Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.47.

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.