Winslow Capital Management LLC Purchases 708,432 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Winslow Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 98.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 708,432 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC owned about 0.50% of Ecolab worth $334,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.9 %

ECL stock traded up $2.11 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $237.43. 221,591 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,144,074. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $67.34 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $254.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $249.11.

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Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup cut their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.71.

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.