Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC Reduces Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC lessened its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 155 shares during the quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $250.79 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $254.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $250.06. The company has a market cap of $71.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

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.