Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,991 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,677 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $16,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,181,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,317,811,000 after purchasing an additional 68,043 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,842,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $981,007,000 after purchasing an additional 35,027 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $358,250,000 after purchasing an additional 8,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,168,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $295,661,000 after purchasing an additional 13,654 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 83,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.96, for a total value of $20,629,403.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,534,868 shares in the company, valued at $7,264,396,133.28. The trade was a 0.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $248.90 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $241.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $195.49 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The stock has a market cap of $70.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.60.

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.