Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 273,952 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $64,429,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of Ecolab as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have weighed in on ECL. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ecolab from $313.00 to $265.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $284.00.
Get Our Latest Report on Ecolab
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Ecolab Stock Performance
ECL traded down $7.38 on Thursday, reaching $230.17. The company had a trading volume of 404,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,142,842. The stock has a market cap of $65.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The company's fifty day moving average is $255.14 and its 200 day moving average is $249.45.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Ecolab Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.
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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