ING Groep NV Lowers Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

ING Groep NV reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 49.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,048 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 65,820 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $15,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 735,934 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% in 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 acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $80,564,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings 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 valued at $84,380,000 after purchasing an additional 129,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings 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 valued at $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $267.43 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.41 and a 12 month high of $268.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $244.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.34.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

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.