Kintegral Advisory LLC Sells 1,057 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kintegral Advisory LLC cut its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,695 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,057 shares during the quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. 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 worth $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 third 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 buying an additional 35,027 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $358,250,000 after acquiring an additional 8,332 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.2% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,168,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $295,661,000 after acquiring an additional 13,654 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.1 %

ECL stock opened at $264.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.89 billion, a PE ratio of 35.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $268.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $244.73 and its 200-day moving average is $247.57.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.33.

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.