Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 25,528 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 44.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,227 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 25,528 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Guys Formula LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 3,332 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $781,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 24,739 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,713,000 after purchasing an additional 4,107 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 141,710 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $33,205,000 after purchasing an additional 5,559 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,942 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,736,000 after buying an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP lifted its position in Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP now owns 35,777 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,383,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $2.87 on Friday, hitting $264.47. The company had a trading volume of 970,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,852. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $244.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $247.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year 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 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. 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%.

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.