Burling Wealth Partners LLC Buys New Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Burling Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,047 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,183,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,658,768,000 after purchasing an additional 105,289 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,231,873,000 after buying an additional 91,475 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in Ecolab by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $936,300,000 after buying an additional 304,478 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Ecolab by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,993,504 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $701,438,000 after buying an additional 165,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Ecolab by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,499,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $586,309,000 after acquiring an additional 83,328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded down $1.59 on Friday, hitting $238.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 899,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,150,212. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $250.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $248.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $219.97 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The firm has a market cap of $67.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $240.00 target price (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 target price on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $282.33.

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.