D.A. Davidson & CO. Increases Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,855 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,026 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $18,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 27,950.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $188,578,000 after purchasing an additional 735,934 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $179,749,000 after buying an additional 516,970 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,564,000. Eastern Bank boosted its position in Ecolab by 750.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 162,607 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $41,519,000 after buying an additional 143,497 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Ecolab by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 330,475 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $84,380,000 after acquiring an additional 129,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $2.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $264.47. The company had a trading volume of 970,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,852. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $268.00. The firm has a market cap of $74.89 billion, a PE ratio of 35.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $244.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $247.57.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus raised Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.