Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Koshinski Asset Management Inc.

Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,697 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 69 shares during the quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECL. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in Ecolab by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 92,639 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,707,000 after buying an additional 3,080 shares during the period. Corundum Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 47.9% during the 4th quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,444 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 54,640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,803,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 10,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,507,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its position in Ecolab by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 328,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $76,950,000 after purchasing an additional 4,789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417 in the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.47.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $240.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $195.49 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $241.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.21 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

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.