Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Grows Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 167,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,784 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $39,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on ECL shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $252.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.05 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $250.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

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.