Capital Research Global Investors Boosts Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 30.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,422,624 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 333,049 shares during the quarter. Capital Research Global Investors’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $333,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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 Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $238.51 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.27 and a 1-year high of $273.69. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $253.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $248.58. The firm has a market cap 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.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its 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 return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised 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. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.33.

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.