Norinchukin Bank The Acquires 2,930 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Norinchukin Bank The increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,930 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,658,768,000 after purchasing an additional 105,289 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 91,475 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 304,478 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,993,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $701,438,000 after acquiring an additional 165,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Ecolab by 3.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $238.51 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $253.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.58. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.27 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a market cap of $67.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.32, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share 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, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given 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 (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (down from $265.00) on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 price objective on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.33.

Ecolab Company 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.