Hager Investment Management Services LLC Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 68,043 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% in 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 valued at $981,007,000 after purchasing an additional 35,027 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $358,250,000 after purchasing an additional 8,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,168,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $295,661,000 after purchasing an additional 13,654 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total transaction of $25,698,995.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $248.90 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $195.49 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $241.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $245.86. The company has a market capitalization of $70.48 billion, a PE ratio of 34.91, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.60.

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.