Dudley & Shanley Inc. Sells 100 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Dudley & Shanley Inc. decreased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 104,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for about 3.8% of Dudley & Shanley Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Dudley & Shanley Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $24,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 68,043 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 0.9% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,851,000 after buying an additional 122,715 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $358,250,000 after buying an additional 8,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $326,626,000 after acquiring an additional 24,648 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on ECL. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.60.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock traded up $1.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $232.70. 299,286 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 600,628. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.46 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.89 billion, a PE ratio of 32.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $246.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

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.