Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by Meeder Asset Management Inc.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2,866.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,123 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,984 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $249.29 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69. The company has a market cap 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. The business has a fifty day moving average of $256.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $250.18.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.88.

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.