Sei Investments Co. Has $207.76 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 50.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 886,653 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 296,344 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.31% of Ecolab worth $207,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $286.88.

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Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL traded up $1.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $252.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,192,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,052,622. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a PE ratio of 34.18, 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 current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $250.15.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Ecolab Company 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.