Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 29.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,700 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 83,491 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,367,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 52.7% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,340,000 after buying an additional 1,814 shares in the last quarter. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $917,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.8% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 102,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,833 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $289.33.

Ecolab Stock Down 5.0 %

Ecolab stock opened at $237.65 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $256.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.15. The stock has a market cap of $67.41 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, 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.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results 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, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last ninety days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.