Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Groupama Asset Managment

Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 72,239 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 4,527 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Ecolab were worth $184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in Ecolab by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,641 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 61.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,355 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $560,000 after acquiring an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 968.5% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,558 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $838,000 after purchasing an additional 3,225 shares during the period. PGGM Investments raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 42.4% in the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 37,416 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $8,905,000 after purchasing an additional 11,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 18.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 18,518 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,407,000 after purchasing an additional 2,924 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $306.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $279.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 834,959 shares of company stock valued at $205,323,667. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $2.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $247.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,295,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,086,984. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $250.69 and a 200 day moving average of $245.61. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $191.53 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.98 billion, a PE ratio of 34.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

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.