Northcape Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,731 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 86 shares during the quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,181,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,317,811,000 after buying an additional 68,043 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,842,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $981,007,000 after buying an additional 35,027 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Ecolab by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after acquiring an additional 129,635 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ecolab by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $358,250,000 after acquiring an additional 8,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its position in Ecolab by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,168,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $295,661,000 after acquiring an additional 13,654 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $265.92 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $243.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.06. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.94 and a 52 week high of $268.00. The stock has a market cap of $75.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.30, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 36.47%.

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.