Ostrum Asset Management Lowers Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Ostrum Asset Management lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 24,074 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,236 shares during the period. Ostrum Asset Management’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $521,399,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% in the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $334,394,000 after buying an additional 708,432 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $179,749,000 after buying an additional 516,970 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $80,564,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Ecolab by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,422,624 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $333,349,000 after purchasing an additional 333,049 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Five investment 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, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.33.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $238.51 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization 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. 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 12-month low of $217.27 and a 12-month high of $273.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $253.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $248.56.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.