Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Has $12.56 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS reduced its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,586 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,542 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.1% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,904 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Ecolab by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,672 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,959,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 14.5% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 9,324 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 11.1% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,043,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 16.4% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,501 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,337 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Ecolab Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded up $1.07 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $252.27. 1,192,093 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,052,309. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The stock has a market cap of $71.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $255.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $250.15.

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 return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ECL. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $286.88.

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.