Ethic Inc. Sells 2,599 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Ethic Inc. reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,052 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,599 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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 research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $282.47.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:ECL traded down $3.04 on Tuesday, reaching $251.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,290,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,160,219. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $220.96 and a 12-month high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $71.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's fifty day moving average is $247.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.55.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued 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 yield of 1.03%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 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.