Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) EVP Larry L. Berger Sells 10,858 Shares of Stock

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of ECL opened at $267.10 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $269.23. The firm has a market cap of $75.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.19, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $246.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $248.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.00.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $521,399,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% during the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $334,394,000 after acquiring an additional 708,432 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $80,564,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% 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.