IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Sells 3,858 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 44.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,891 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,858 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ECL. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 11,183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,620,000 after purchasing an additional 2,483 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $830,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 418,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $97,013,000 after purchasing an additional 18,967 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 87.9% in the fourth quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 1,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ECL shares. 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.88.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $252.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $71.74 billion, a PE ratio of 34.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $255.81 and a 200-day moving average of $250.18. 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 one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.