Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Meeder Advisory Services Inc.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 278 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC grew its position 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 valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.88.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $253.64 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $256.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.26. The company has a market capitalization of $71.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.05 and a 12-month high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

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.