Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 13,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP now owns 35,777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,383,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,360 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Paladin Wealth LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC now owns 2,708 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 3,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $880,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Quilter Plc boosted its position in Ecolab by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 73,393 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,197,000 after purchasing an additional 3,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.4 %

ECL opened at $265.74 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $213.94 and a one year high of $267.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $242.33 and its 200-day moving average is $246.20. The company has a market capitalization of $75.25 billion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. On average, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total value of $25,698,995.82. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,079,209,816.61. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 260,415 shares of company stock worth $63,544,899 in the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.