OLD Mission Capital LLC Buys New Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

OLD Mission Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,458 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,279,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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Ecolab Stock Down 2.9 %

ECL stock traded down $6.97 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $230.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 838,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,132,819. The company has a market cap of $65.46 billion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The firm's 50-day moving average is $256.93 and its 200-day moving average is $250.16. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 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.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 target price on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $289.20.

Ecolab 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.