Aristotle Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Aristotle Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,551,362 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 11,415 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for approximately 2.1% of Aristotle Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Aristotle Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.61% of Ecolab worth $1,066,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 9.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 796,170 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $203,285,000 after acquiring an additional 69,142 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 276.3% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,886 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,290,000 after purchasing an additional 9,462 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ecolab by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,241 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 301,591 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $77,005,000 after purchasing an additional 16,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 36.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 578 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $282.47.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $255.14 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $248.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.88. The company has a market cap of $72.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $220.96 and a 12-month high of $273.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The company's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired 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 in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last quarter. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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