Mariner LLC Decreases Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mariner LLC lessened its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 66,212 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,468 shares during the period. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $15,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,658,768,000 after purchasing an additional 105,289 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,231,873,000 after buying an additional 91,475 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Ecolab by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $936,300,000 after buying an additional 304,478 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,993,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $701,438,000 after acquiring an additional 165,949 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,499,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $586,309,000 after acquiring an additional 83,328 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8 %

ECL opened at $236.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $67.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $253.83 and its 200 day moving average is $248.84. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered 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. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $240.00 price target (down from $265.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.00.

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.