Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stake Reduced by Fmr LLC

FMR LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,026,716 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 82,945 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned about 0.72% of Ecolab worth $474,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Ecolab by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL traded up $0.50 on Tuesday, hitting $239.12. 439,409 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,144,567. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $254.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $249.00. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The firm has a market cap of $67.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

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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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased 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 in the company, 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 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup cut their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.67.

About Ecolab

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.