Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 1,825 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado reduced its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,987 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,825 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Ecolab by 4,154.0% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,127 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 2,077 shares during the period. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. now owns 11,136 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,609,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Berger Financial Group Inc increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 2,440 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,196 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 168.1% during the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 31,962 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $7,489,000 after buying an additional 20,042 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock traded up $2.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $255.14. 1,099,381 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,157,681. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $248.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $220.96 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $72.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic cut Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.