Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stock Position Trimmed by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 807 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $10,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last ninety days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ECL. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.8 %

ECL stock opened at $269.87 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $248.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $249.30. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.57, 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 (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Ecolab 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.