Martin Currie Ltd. Has $1.19 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Martin Currie Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 49.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,667 shares during the period. Martin Currie Ltd.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $249.29 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $256.04 and a 200 day moving average of $250.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $70.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ECL. UBS Group increased their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.88.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Company 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.