Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Position Trimmed by Nuveen Asset Management LLC

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,239,285 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 22,186 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.44% of Ecolab worth $290,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased 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 approximately $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of ECL traded down $0.31 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $261.05. 218,498 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,160,349. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $246.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.72. 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 twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The stock has a market cap of $74.04 billion, a PE ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Five equities 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.13.

Ecolab 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.