Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $2.92 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 508 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,924,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $521,399,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in Ecolab by 206.7% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $179,749,000 after acquiring an additional 516,970 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $80,564,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $936,300,000 after acquiring an additional 304,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 50.2% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 886,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $207,758,000 after purchasing an additional 296,344 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 3.2 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $230.05 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The company has a market capitalization of $65.25 billion, a PE ratio of 31.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $256.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 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, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 35.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $289.20.

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.