State of Michigan Retirement System Increases Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,740 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $16,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter worth $40,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE ECL opened at $267.76 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $75.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $248.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $249.15.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Equities analysts forecast 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 paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

About Ecolab

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.