Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Sells 110 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC now owns 3,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $860,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $39,204,000. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 38,363 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,989,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 161.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 18,768 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,398,000 after purchasing an additional 11,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 447.5% in the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $269.68 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.61. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $76.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last ninety days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Ecolab

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.