Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 214,506 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 21,191 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.08% of Ecolab worth $50,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in Ecolab by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Argus raised Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $286.88.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Ecolab stock traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $254.50. 1,085,813 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,124,654. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month 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 50-day simple moving average of $256.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.23.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm's 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Company 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.