OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A Lowers Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A lessened its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,970 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 658 shares during the period. Ecolab comprises about 1.7% of OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 397.8% in the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 14,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,413,000 after buying an additional 11,641 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,476 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Ecolab by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 233,452 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $54,702,000 after acquiring an additional 2,739 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Ecolab by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 112,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,442,000 after acquiring an additional 10,035 shares during the period. Finally, Next Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 4,863 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm’s 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 represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $254.25 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $253.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.03. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.45, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Company 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.