Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $163.33 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 0.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 644,231 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,225 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Ecolab worth $163,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,980 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $755,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% in the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 902 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,317 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,012,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $703,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 4,145 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.13.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of ECL stock opened at $267.55 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The stock has a market cap of $75.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $258.03 and a 200-day moving average of $251.23.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 35.33%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.04% of the stock is owned by 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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