Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Trims Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich trimmed its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 162,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 981 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.06% of Ecolab worth $40,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $362,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $865,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 37,617 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,822,000 after acquiring an additional 5,189 shares during the period. Bradyco Inc. purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $724,000. Finally, Andra AP fonden grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 70,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,496,000 after purchasing an additional 13,800 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup raised their target price on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $269.68 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69. The stock has a market cap of $76.32 billion, a PE ratio of 36.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $250.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $249.66.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Ecolab’s dividend 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.