QRG Capital Management Inc. Purchases 26,529 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 91.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,415 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,529 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $39,204,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,338 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $17,888,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 100,854 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $23,632,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. SRN Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $935,000. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 766,794 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $179,675,000 after buying an additional 50,576 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last ninety days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.46 on Monday, hitting $269.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,464,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,260,770. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $76.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $247.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.76.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $288.00.

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.