Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue decreased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,735 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,944 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,181,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,317,811,000 after acquiring an additional 68,043 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 0.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,842,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $981,007,000 after purchasing an additional 35,027 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Ecolab by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $358,250,000 after purchasing an additional 8,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.2% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,168,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $295,661,000 after buying an additional 13,654 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $247.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.05 billion, a PE ratio of 34.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $241.89 and a 200-day moving average of $245.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $200.50 and a 52-week high of $262.61.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.60.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 83,873 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.96, for a total transaction of $20,629,403.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,534,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,264,396,133.28. The trade was a 0.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.