Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stock Position Lowered by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lessened its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 723,394 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 39,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.26% of Ecolab worth $169,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $179,749,000 after buying an additional 516,970 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $80,564,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $61,073,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $39,204,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 64.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 330,475 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $84,380,000 after buying an additional 129,738 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Argus upgraded Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $288.00.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction 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. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE ECL opened at $250.78 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $273.69. 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 company has a market capitalization of $70.97 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $252.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $249.95.

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 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.23%.

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.

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