Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC

Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,499 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,257 shares during the quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 797.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,550,000 after buying an additional 15,834 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $381,552,000 after buying an additional 129,635 shares in the last quarter. Corundum Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 47.9% during the fourth quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,444 shares during the period. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $246,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $285.71.

Remove Ads

Ecolab Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded up $2.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $234.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,347,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,147,651. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $66.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $254.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $249.11. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 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%. Research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

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.