Norris Perne & French LLP MI Lowers Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Norris Perne & French LLP MI decreased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 127,978 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,070 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for 2.2% of Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $29,988,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. 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 acquiring an additional 68,043 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 35,027 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in 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 worth $381,552,000 after buying an additional 129,635 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 0.6% during 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 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 worth $295,661,000 after purchasing an additional 13,654 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $252.65 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.68. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.49 and a 1 year high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $71.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total value of $24,806,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,718,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,372,030,892.46. This trade represents a 0.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 425,430 shares of company stock valued at $104,201,556 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.