37,556 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Purchased by Generali Asset Management SPA SGR

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 37,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,800,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew its position in Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value 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 $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.4 %

ECL stock opened at $252.06 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $252.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $250.00. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $71.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

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.