LGT Group Foundation Sells 1,303 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

LGT Group Foundation decreased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,286 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,303 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. DJE Kapital AG bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $895,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Ecolab by 48.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 27,122 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,355,000 after buying an additional 8,832 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ecolab by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,317 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. raised its stake in Ecolab by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. now owns 53,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,656,000 after buying an additional 3,444 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $269.47 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $76.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year 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. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $247.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.96.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average 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.