Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC

CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 51 shares during the quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $242.28 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $68.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $241.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $245.60. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.49 and a 1-year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 36.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ECL. UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 25th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.