Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,528 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,360 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2,866.2% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,123 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $966,000 after buying an additional 3,984 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 35,391 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,293,000 after purchasing an additional 2,713 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Martin Currie Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. Martin Currie Ltd. now owns 5,067 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Ecolab by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 739,978 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $173,392,000 after purchasing an additional 177,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.
Ecolab Stock Performance
ECL stock traded down $12.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $237.65. 2,594,535 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,133,760. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.41 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $256.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $250.15. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.05 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.
Ecolab Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.23%.
Insider Activity at Ecolab
In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of 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 note on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $289.33.
View Our Latest Research Report on Ecolab
About Ecolab
(
Free Report)
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.
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