Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lowered its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,994 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,826 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,578,000 after buying an additional 735,934 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $80,564,000. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in Ecolab by 750.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 162,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,519,000 after acquiring an additional 143,497 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 64.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 330,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,380,000 after purchasing an additional 129,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899 over the last ninety days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.60.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $247.39 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $200.50 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $245.96.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

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

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.