Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Boosts Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 28.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,603 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,105 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in Ecolab by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its holdings in Ecolab by 212.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:ECL traded down $2.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $264.47. The stock had a trading volume of 970,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,852. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.34. The company has a market capitalization of $74.89 billion, a PE ratio of 35.84, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $268.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ECL. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.