Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 326 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,672 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,579 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $660,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.88.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.7 %

ECL opened at $252.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $254.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $250.10.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.