F M Investments LLC Decreases Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

F M Investments LLC lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 38.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,375 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 12,568 shares during the quarter. F M Investments LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,658,768,000 after purchasing an additional 105,289 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,231,873,000 after buying an additional 91,475 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $936,300,000 after acquiring an additional 304,478 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,993,504 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $701,438,000 after purchasing an additional 165,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Ecolab by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,499,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $586,309,000 after purchasing an additional 83,328 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Ecolab Stock Down 0.2 %

ECL stock traded down $0.38 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $238.24. 1,479,645 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,148,586. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $254.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $249.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.28, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

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, meeting 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, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $313.00 to $265.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $285.67.

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.