LGT Group Foundation Sells 1,303 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

LGT Group Foundation cut its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,286 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,303 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 471,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,444,000 after buying an additional 79,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kanawha Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 71,618 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,286,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $269.47 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $247.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $248.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.05 and a 12-month high of $273.69. The firm has a market cap of $76.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.51, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

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.