3,100 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Acquired by Board of the Pension Protection Fund

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,100 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $726,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $453,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% during the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,940,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in Ecolab by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Leverty Financial Group LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Leverty Financial Group LLC now owns 8,718 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,226,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.47.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total transaction of $25,698,995.82. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,348,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,079,209,816.61. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL traded up $2.74 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $236.64. 1,240,064 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,129,929. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.49 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.01 billion, a PE ratio of 33.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business's 50-day moving average price is $242.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.57.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Ecolab's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

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.