Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Has $3.51 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,973 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $521,399,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $179,749,000 after acquiring an additional 516,970 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $80,564,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Ecolab by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $936,300,000 after purchasing an additional 304,478 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 50.2% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 886,653 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $207,758,000 after purchasing an additional 296,344 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four 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, Ecolab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $289.20.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL traded up $0.39 on Tuesday, hitting $230.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 473,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,135,940. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $256.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $250.01. 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 (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. 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%.

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.