Robeco Schweiz AG Sells 74,505 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Robeco Schweiz AG reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 21.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 268,028 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 74,505 shares during the period. Ecolab comprises about 1.3% of Robeco Schweiz AG’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Robeco Schweiz AG’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $62,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,181,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,317,811,000 after acquiring an additional 68,043 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 0.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,842,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $981,007,000 after purchasing an additional 35,027 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after buying an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $358,250,000 after acquiring an additional 8,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 904,631 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $230,979,000 after acquiring an additional 7,264 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.00.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL opened at $266.60 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $75.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $246.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $248.29. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $268.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Ecolab

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.