Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 70 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,228 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 23.0% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Ecolab by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 51,587 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,172,000 after buying an additional 3,155 shares during the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth about $200,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,562,000 after buying an additional 1,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 12.3% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.60.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of ECL opened at $249.97 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $195.49 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $241.72 and its 200-day moving average is $245.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.