Norges Bank Invests $521.40 Million in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,225,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $521,399,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.79% of Ecolab as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 8.5% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 13,503 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings 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 worth $4,249,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 78.1% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 79,795 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,374,000 after acquiring an additional 34,995 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE ECL opened at $249.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.05 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $256.04 and a 200-day moving average of $250.18.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. 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 note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.