Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by USA Financial Formulas

USA Financial Formulas lessened its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 45.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,637 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,059 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 8,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,947 shares during the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $726,000. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 53,673 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,577,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $831,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $236.64 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $242.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $245.57. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $195.49 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The firm has a market cap of $67.01 billion, a PE ratio of 33.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.65 dividend. 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. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.47.

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.