MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Grows Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,639 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,080 shares during the quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB's holdings in Ecolab were worth $21,707,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in Ecolab by 62.0% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Abound Wealth Management raised its position in Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ECL. Piper Sandler decreased 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $277.47.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $1.52 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $237.63. 2,312,522 shares of the company's 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 PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.49 and a 1 year high of $262.61. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $241.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $245.62.

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

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

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.