343,731 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Bought by Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 343,731 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,564,000. Ecolab comprises approximately 1.6% of Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,181,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,317,811,000 after buying an additional 68,043 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,842,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $981,007,000 after buying an additional 35,027 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $358,250,000 after purchasing an additional 8,332 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc raised its stake in Ecolab by 1.2% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,168,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $295,661,000 after buying an additional 13,654 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.3 %

ECL stock opened at $242.28 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $68.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $241.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $245.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $195.49 and a 52-week high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.47.

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.