Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 19.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 227,649 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,050 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.08% of Ecolab worth $53,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Down 5.0 %

ECL opened at $237.65 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $256.93 and a 200-day moving average of $250.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $289.33.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.