Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management cut its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 237 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings 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 worth $38,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its position 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 worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.47.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $241.73 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.49 and a 1-year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

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.