Yousif Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,991 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,677 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $16,166,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth $40,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE ECL opened at $248.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $195.49 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $241.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.60.

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.