Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Reduces Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 34.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,051 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 55,900 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in Ecolab were worth $24,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $521,399,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 98.6% during the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $334,394,000 after purchasing an additional 708,432 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $80,564,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Ecolab by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $936,300,000 after purchasing an additional 304,478 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of ECL traded down $2.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $237.31. The company had a trading volume of 328,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,148,198. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.19 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $67.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $251.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.21.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $282.33.

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.