M. Kraus & Co Trims Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

M. Kraus & Co reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,958 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 309 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for 2.7% of M. Kraus & Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. M. Kraus & Co’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,940,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Leverty Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 0.5% during the third quarter. Leverty Financial Group LLC now owns 8,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,226,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.1 %

ECL stock opened at $233.65 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. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $242.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $245.57. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $195.49 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.16 billion, a PE ratio of 32.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.47.

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.