OFI Invest Asset Management Invests $1.77 Million in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,819 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in Ecolab by 206.7% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $80,564,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $61,073,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,204,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Ecolab by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 330,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,380,000 after purchasing an additional 129,738 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of ECL opened at $269.68 on Monday. 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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.68. The firm has a market cap of $76.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Company 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.