Achmea Investment Management B.V. Grows Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 18.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,724 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 206.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $179,749,000 after buying an additional 516,970 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $80,564,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $61,073,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $39,204,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 330,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,380,000 after purchasing an additional 129,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price 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 downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.7 %

Ecolab stock opened at $250.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $252.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $249.95. The company has a market capitalization of $70.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, 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 quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.