Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stake Lessened by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Baird Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 201,783 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,149 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of Ecolab worth $47,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $235,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Ecolab by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,517,118 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $589,811,000 after purchasing an additional 12,911 shares during the last quarter. Bearing Point Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $7,929,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,257,000. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ECL. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $282.47.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded up $1.73 on Wednesday, hitting $254.38. 1,323,431 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,156,159. The firm has a market cap of $72.15 billion, a PE ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $248.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $247.76. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

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.