Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 91.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,276 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 43,224 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,092,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ECL. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on 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 reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $279.87.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL traded up $2.33 on Friday, reaching $250.31. The stock had a trading volume of 931,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,086,395. The business's 50-day moving average price is $250.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.23. The stock has a market cap of $70.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $189.58 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. This is an increase from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 31.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 834,959 shares of company stock worth $205,323,667. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

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.