Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Position Lifted by Ossiam

Ossiam raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,298 shares during the period. Ossiam’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ecolab by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,658,768,000 after buying an additional 105,289 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,231,873,000 after acquiring an additional 91,475 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 304,478 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Ecolab by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,993,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $701,438,000 after purchasing an additional 165,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,499,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $586,309,000 after purchasing an additional 83,328 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $238.51 on Friday. 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 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. The business’s fifty day moving average is $253.24 and its 200-day moving average is $248.58. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.27 and a 1 year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $282.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.