Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Corebridge Financial Inc.

Corebridge Financial Inc. reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,675 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,849 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $15,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its holdings in Ecolab by 212.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.88.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $252.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.68 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. 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 fifty day moving average price is $254.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $250.10. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69.

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, 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 anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share 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 1.03%. The ex-dividend date 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 Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition 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 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 directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This trade 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.

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.