Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $1,078,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 2,029 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $475,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $164,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,622 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total transaction of $25,698,995.82. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,079,209,816.61. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $247.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $241.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $245.95.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 36.47%.

Ecolab 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.