Davis R M Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Davis R M Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 113,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,385 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $26,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth $437,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 7,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,834,000 after acquiring an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 38,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,751,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 2,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth $628,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE ECL opened at $265.54 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $250.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.82. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $75.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.98, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.