Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 91,475 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 91,475 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.86% of Ecolab worth $1,231,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,658,768,000 after buying an additional 105,289 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $936,300,000 after acquiring an additional 304,478 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,499,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $586,309,000 after acquiring an additional 83,328 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $521,399,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Ecolab by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 5.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $12.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $237.65. 2,594,535 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,133,760. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $67.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $256.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.15.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $289.33.

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.