Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,129,000 after buying an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% during the 4th quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after purchasing an additional 47,863 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,338,000 after acquiring an additional 9,695 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $35,040,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 167,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,128,000 after buying an additional 47,351 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research began coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America raised Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $216.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.47.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $0.20 on Thursday, hitting $220.58. The stock had a trading volume of 427,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,196,642. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $223.71 and a 200 day moving average of $200.43. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.09, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.60%.

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.