New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 11,767 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 190,183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 11,767 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $44,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter worth $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in 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 last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter worth $40,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $264.99 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $213.94 and a 1-year high of $268.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $242.68 and its 200 day moving average is $246.33. The company has a market cap of $75.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.17, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ECL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,348,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 260,415 shares of company stock valued at $63,544,899. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.