Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,599 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 169 shares during the quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in Ecolab by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,589,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Ecolab by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in Ecolab by 797.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,550,000 after purchasing an additional 15,834 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $265.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.30 billion, a PE ratio of 37.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.94 and a 12-month high of $268.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $243.66 and its 200-day moving average is $247.06.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.33.

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.