Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Acquires 4,405 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 5th, 2023

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Free Report) by 4.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 100,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,405 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $16,688,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 0.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,552,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 4.5% during the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 13.3% during the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 545 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Country Club Bank GFN increased its holdings in Ecolab by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Country Club Bank GFN now owns 2,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc increased its holdings in Ecolab by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. 73.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $163.00 to $181.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $164.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, VNET Group reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $191.93.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $182.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $131.04 and a one year high of $191.41. The company has a market cap of $51.97 billion, a PE ratio of 44.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.02.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.86 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 7.96% and a return on equity of 18.55%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 19th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.58%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Nicholas J. Alfano sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $192,150.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,700,475. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 21,708 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.67, for a total value of $3,943,692.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,260,338.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas J. Alfano sold 1,098 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $192,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,700,475. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,600 shares of company stock worth $5,889,204. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company Profile

(Free Report)

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segments. 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.