Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 19.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.11% of Ecolab worth $733,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 0.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 105,289 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,231,873,000 after purchasing an additional 91,475 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Ecolab by 8.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 304,478 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 5.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Ecolab by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,499,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $586,309,000 after purchasing an additional 83,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock traded up $2.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $255.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,099,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,157,323. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The company's 50-day moving average price is $248.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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 fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised 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 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $282.47.

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.