Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Has $2.39 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV reduced its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 177 shares during the quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 32.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 207.8% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,375,000 after purchasing an additional 19,501 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 78.0% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Radnor Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $230,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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. Over 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 company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $269.87 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $248.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.30. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $76.37 billion, a PE ratio of 36.57, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 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%. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.