First Merchants Corp Sells 116 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

First Merchants Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 116 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.5% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 40,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,852 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Probity Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter worth $207,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,415 shares of company stock valued at $63,544,899. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ECL. UBS Group raised their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $264.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $75.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.94 and a 1-year high of $268.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $242.68 and a 200-day moving average of $246.33.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.47%.

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.