Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 341,168 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,349 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $79,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew its position in Ecolab by 212.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last ninety days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ECL. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $269.87 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $76.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $248.98 and a 200-day moving average of $249.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

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.