Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Has $599,000 Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,018 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Robbins Farley acquired a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $226.76.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $226.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $219.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.30. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $231.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio 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.