Peninsula Asset Management Inc. Sells 515 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Peninsula Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 515 shares during the period. Ecolab comprises about 2.5% of Peninsula Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Peninsula Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its position in Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was 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 research firms have recently issued reports on ECL. Barclays lifted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. 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. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $250.87 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $249.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.00 billion, a PE ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. 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 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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 is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

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.