Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. Cuts Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,360 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, 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 valued at $4,637,985 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL opened at $253.64 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $256.36 and its 200 day moving average is $250.21. 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 $71.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.37, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.05 and a 12-month high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share 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, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ECL. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.88.

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.