Northeast Investment Management Lowers Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Northeast Investment Management lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,527 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Northeast Investment Management’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,972,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,708 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 2,522 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $644,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 939 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 13.8% in the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.60.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $247.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.70, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $241.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $245.96. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $200.50 and a 52-week high of $262.61.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.