KCM Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,474 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,161 shares during the quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $17,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 83,491 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $21,367,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 7.0% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,292 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 52.7% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,259 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,814 shares during the last quarter. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at about $917,000. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Ecolab by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 102,810 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $26,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,833 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Ecolab Stock Down 3.1 %
NYSE:ECL traded down $7.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $230.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 404,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,142,842. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $65.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $255.14 and a 200-day moving average of $249.45.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.
Ecolab Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.23%.
Insider Transactions at Ecolab
In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
ECL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 price target on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ecolab from $313.00 to $265.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Ecolab
Ecolab Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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