Ameriprise Financial Inc. Lowers Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,479,124 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 35,998 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.52% of Ecolab worth $347,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $252.78. 951,169 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,155,593. The company has a market cap of $71.70 billion, a PE ratio of 34.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $247.38 and a 200 day moving average of $247.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $282.47.

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.