Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Purchases 2,105 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 28.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,603 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,105 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cardinal Capital Management raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 41,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,821,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the period. Davidson Trust Co. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 3,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $714,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 13,004 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,052,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,269 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on ECL. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $265.92 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.94 and a fifty-two week high of $268.00. 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 $75.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $243.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.06.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued 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 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

Ecolab 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.