Harrington Investments INC Sells 192 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Harrington Investments INC reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,047 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 192 shares during the quarter. Harrington Investments INC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its position in Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $250.87 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a PE ratio of 33.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $252.47 and its 200 day moving average is $249.97.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 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.