Rossby Financial LCC Acquires Shares of 2,032 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,032 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $476,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $521,399,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 98.6% during the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $334,394,000 after purchasing an additional 708,432 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,564,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Ecolab by 8.2% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 304,478 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $2.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $238.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,409,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,147,721. The firm has a market cap of $67.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.27 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $253.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $248.56.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $282.33.

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.