one8zero8 LLC Purchases New Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

one8zero8 LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 15,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,727,000. Ecolab accounts for approximately 0.8% of one8zero8 LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Ecolab by 797.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,550,000 after purchasing an additional 15,834 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Ecolab by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Corundum Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 47.9% during the fourth quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Ecolab by 7.9% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 37,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. Barclays increased their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $250.87 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $252.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $249.98. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.99, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.