Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Buys Shares of 343,731 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 343,731 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,564,000. Ecolab makes up about 1.6% of Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA owned 0.12% of Ecolab at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% in the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,940,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% during the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417 in the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $242.28 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.60 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $241.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.62. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.49 and a 1 year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. 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 research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.47.

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.