Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA decreased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,120 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 325 shares during the quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp now owns 54,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,841,000 after purchasing an additional 2,313 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,441,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 66.1% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linscomb Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 11,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,672,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded 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 research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.5 %

Ecolab stock opened at $268.64 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $247.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $248.64. The firm has a market cap of $76.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $270.57.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

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.