Meeder Asset Management Inc. Has $966,000 Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 2,866.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,123 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,984 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $521,399,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $179,749,000 after acquiring an additional 516,970 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $80,564,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in 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 valued at $936,300,000 after acquiring an additional 304,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 886,653 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $207,758,000 after purchasing an additional 296,344 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $289.33.

Remove Ads

Ecolab Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $6.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $243.25. The stock had a trading volume of 840,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,127,619. 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 company has a market cap of $68.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.91, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $257.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.26.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business's 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 directly owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 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.