Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 5,252 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,087 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,252 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Ecolab were worth $24,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $246,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,898 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $795,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 68.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,202 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $818,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 101,001 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $24,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Argus raised Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Five equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $283.13.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $263.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 357,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,165,782. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.60 billion, a PE ratio of 35.64, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $247.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.44.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.04% 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.