F M Investments LLC Lowers Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

F M Investments LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 38.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,375 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 12,568 shares during the quarter. F M Investments LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $237.84. 623,909 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,148,113. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $248.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.23, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm'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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (down from $265.00) on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $284.00.

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.