Wells Fargo & Company MN Lowers Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Wells Fargo & Company MN trimmed its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,610,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 118,820 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $377,276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $237.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $256.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $250.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ECL. Citigroup raised their price target on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.33.

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.