Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 167,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,784 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.06% of Ecolab worth $39,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased 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 worth $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $80,564,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Ecolab by 50.2% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 886,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $207,758,000 after buying an additional 296,344 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $61,073,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,204,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ECL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $252.27 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $255.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G 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 current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

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.