3,541 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Acquired by WINTON GROUP Ltd

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $830,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 8.5% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 13,503 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 16,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,249,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 11.7% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,493 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 2.6% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 10,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,577,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $249.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $256.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.18. The firm has a market cap of $70.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

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.