Barclays PLC Grows Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 796,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 69,142 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $203,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 0.9% during the 3rd 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 valued at $981,007,000 after purchasing an additional 35,027 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Ecolab by 5.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,851,000 after acquiring an additional 122,715 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,149,000 after acquiring an additional 43,553 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $358,250,000 after purchasing an additional 8,332 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $249.40 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $191.53 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.62 billion, a PE ratio of 34.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $250.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $245.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 834,959 shares of company stock valued at $205,323,667. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.87.

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.