World Investment Advisors Purchases 4,475 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

World Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 34.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,361 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,475 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ECL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.00.

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Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock traded up $12.21 on Wednesday, reaching $237.86. 1,924,966 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,145,578. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $255.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $249.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.46 billion, a PE ratio of 32.23, a PEG 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. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (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, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab 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 directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

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.