Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 8,961 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 255,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,961 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $59,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $249.29 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $256.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction 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 approximately $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.88.

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.