Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Position Raised by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 57.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 237,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,905 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ owned 0.08% of Ecolab worth $55,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 206.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $179,749,000 after buying an additional 516,970 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $80,564,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,073,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $39,204,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 64.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 330,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,380,000 after buying an additional 129,738 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ECL. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays upped their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $255.02 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $251.70 and its 200 day moving average is $249.94. The stock has a market cap of $72.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.