Gries Financial LLC Reduces Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Gries Financial LLC cut its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 51 shares during the quarter. Gries Financial LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its stake in Ecolab by 62.0% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Abound Wealth Management lifted its stake in Ecolab by 212.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 2,188.9% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 425,430 shares of company stock valued at $104,201,556 over the last ninety days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $252.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $195.49 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $241.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $245.68.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.60.

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.