World Equity Group Inc. Purchases 42 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

World Equity Group Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $1,317,811,000 after acquiring an additional 68,043 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 0.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 35,027 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Ecolab by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,552,000 after acquiring an additional 129,635 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $358,250,000 after acquiring an additional 8,332 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its stake in Ecolab by 1.2% in the third 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 own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $263.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $245.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $247.97. 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 firm has a market cap of $74.74 billion, a PE ratio of 35.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $268.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

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.