Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by Ossiam

Ossiam boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,298 shares during the period. Ossiam’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 102.3% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 90,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,140,000 after purchasing an additional 45,619 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Ecolab by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,422,624 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $333,349,000 after buying an additional 333,049 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Ecolab by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 765,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $179,379,000 after buying an additional 38,292 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 4,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $966,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective 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. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Mizuho cut their price target on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.33.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.1 %

ECL opened at $238.51 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.27 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $253.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.58. 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 company has a market cap of $67.65 billion, a PE ratio of 32.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

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.