Parallel Advisors LLC Sells 544 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Parallel Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 42,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 544 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,971,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position in Ecolab by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised 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 valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $250.87 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 35.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.