Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 53.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 80,485 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 27,945 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $18,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $521,399,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% in the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $334,394,000 after acquiring an additional 708,432 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $733,201,000 after buying an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $80,564,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL traded down $2.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $252.19. 95,768 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,156,613. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $247.07 and a 200-day moving average of $247.55. 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 $71.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.27, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, 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 have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler lifted 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $282.47.

Ecolab 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.