Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Sells 3,928 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 136,087 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,928 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $31,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL traded down $1.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $238.08. 899,317 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,150,583. The firm has a market cap of $67.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $250.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $248.11. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.25 and a 52 week high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group boosted 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. Mizuho decreased their target price on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.