Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,305 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,895 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,055,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 796,170 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $203,285,000 after purchasing an additional 69,142 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 276.3% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,886 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,290,000 after buying an additional 9,462 shares during the period. Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $9,830,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in Ecolab by 797.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,550,000 after purchasing an additional 15,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its holdings in Ecolab by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 56,276 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $14,368,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock traded up $5.14 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $252.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,042,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,153,752. The company's fifty day moving average is $249.50 and its 200-day moving average is $247.90. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The company has a market capitalization of $71.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. 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 (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS 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 business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ECL. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic cut Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Argus raised Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $282.47.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.