New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 423,274 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,300 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.15% of Ecolab worth $99,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 40,209 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,267,000 after buying an additional 1,717 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 144.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,899 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 1,123 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 20,632 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,268,000 after buying an additional 3,797 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 977 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $2.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $264.53. 391,655 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,216,237. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $244.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $247.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $74.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $268.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.33.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. 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 Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently 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.