Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Raises Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 29.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 55,200 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,700 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ECL. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 797.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,550,000 after buying an additional 15,834 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 129,635 shares in the last quarter. Corundum Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 47.9% during the 4th quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,769,000 after buying an additional 2,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $246,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on ECL. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $313.00 to $265.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.00.

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Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL traded down $3.72 during trading on Thursday, hitting $233.83. 589,105 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,143,895. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.05 and a 12-month high of $273.69. The business has a 50 day moving average of $255.14 and a 200-day moving average of $249.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Ecolab 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.