Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Grows Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,854 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $23,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2 %

ECL opened at $267.10 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $246.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $248.42. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.05 and a 52 week high of $269.23. The company has a market cap of $75.63 billion, a PE ratio of 36.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 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 (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ECL. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.