Global X Japan Co. Ltd. Buys 310 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,029 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $164,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Ecolab by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 62,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,669,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 643,006 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $150,669,000 after buying an additional 1,968 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,685,000. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $492,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $249.79 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $200.50 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $70.73 billion, a PE ratio of 35.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $241.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $245.93.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 25th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 83,873 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.96, for a total transaction of $20,629,403.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,534,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,264,396,133.28. This represents a 0.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899 in the last quarter. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.