Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stock Holdings Lessened by West Michigan Advisors LLC

West Michigan Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,374 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 89 shares during the period. West Michigan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $282,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in Ecolab by 1.7% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 3,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its stake in Ecolab by 2.5% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 136,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,763,000 after buying an additional 3,328 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 32.7% during 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 period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 20.7% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ECL. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.5 %

ECL stock opened at $268.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $76.02 billion, a PE ratio of 36.40, a P/E/G 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 $270.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $247.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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 yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

About Ecolab

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.