California State Teachers Retirement System Raises Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 482,136 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 4,448 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.17% of Ecolab worth $112,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,658,768,000 after acquiring an additional 105,289 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,231,873,000 after acquiring an additional 91,475 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% during 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 period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Ecolab by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 5.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $238.90 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $249.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.90. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $219.97 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The company has a market capitalization of $67.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 price objective on Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler upped 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. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $282.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last ninety days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.