Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Sells 3,636 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 36.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,310 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,636 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,658,768,000 after buying an additional 105,289 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,231,873,000 after purchasing an additional 91,475 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $936,300,000 after purchasing an additional 304,478 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Ecolab by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,993,504 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $701,438,000 after purchasing an additional 165,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Ecolab by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,499,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $586,309,000 after purchasing an additional 83,328 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays reduced their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $282.47.

Ecolab Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of ECL stock traded up $5.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $252.05. 2,042,920 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,153,752. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $249.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.90. The firm has a market cap of $71.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

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.