SlateStone Wealth LLC Raises Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 125 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Ecolab by 7.9% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 37,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 3.1% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter worth $26,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 27.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 25,042 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,394,000 after purchasing an additional 5,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 4.3% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 374,609 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $95,649,000 after purchasing an additional 15,503 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE ECL opened at $250.87 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.00 billion, a PE ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $252.47 and a 200 day moving average of $249.98. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Company 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.