DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,704,057 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 108,526 shares during the quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main owned 0.60% of Ecolab worth $399,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,658,768,000 after purchasing an additional 105,289 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,231,873,000 after acquiring an additional 91,475 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Ecolab by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $936,300,000 after acquiring an additional 304,478 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Ecolab by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after acquiring an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Ecolab by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,993,504 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $701,438,000 after purchasing an additional 165,949 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.
Ecolab Stock Performance
NYSE:ECL opened at $254.38 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The stock has a market cap of $72.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $248.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $247.76.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Ecolab's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.
Ecolab Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.33%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $282.47.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Ecolab
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.
Ecolab Company Profile
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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.
Further Reading
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