Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by DRW Securities LLC

DRW Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 194.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,557 shares during the quarter. DRW Securities LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $521,399,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $334,394,000 after acquiring an additional 708,432 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $80,564,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 304,478 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 price target on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.00.

Ecolab Stock Up 5.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $237.86 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $255.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $249.45. The stock has a market cap of $67.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.23, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

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.