Avity Investment Management Inc. Sells 1,900 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Avity Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 149,446 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,900 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up approximately 2.7% of Avity Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Avity Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Ecolab worth $35,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 43.3% in the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $251,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 714,702 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $170,110,000 after acquiring an additional 78,721 shares in the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in Ecolab by 43.8% during the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 8,143 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,938,000 after acquiring an additional 2,480 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total transaction of $24,806,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,718,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,372,030,892.46. The trade was a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417 in the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

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

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.47.

Ecolab 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.