Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Position Trimmed by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Baillie Gifford & Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 950,398 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 67,574 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 0.34% of Ecolab worth $222,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ECL. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $188,578,000 after acquiring an additional 735,934 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $179,749,000 after acquiring an additional 516,970 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,564,000. Eastern Bank lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 750.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 162,607 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,519,000 after acquiring an additional 143,497 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 330,475 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $84,380,000 after purchasing an additional 129,738 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.4 %

Ecolab stock traded up $1.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $267.43. 936,189 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,241,839. The company's 50-day moving average is $244.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.19. 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 52-week low of $215.41 and a 52-week high of $268.00. The firm has a market cap of $75.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.24, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

About Ecolab

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.