NEOS Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 28.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,483 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECL. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $830,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 418,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $97,013,000 after acquiring an additional 18,967 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 87.9% in the 4th quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 1,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 120,464 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,227,000 after purchasing an additional 2,509 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $249.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.05 and a 12-month high of $273.69. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $256.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.18.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released 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 return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’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 value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.88.

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.