Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by New Mexico Educational Retirement Board

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,080 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 127.0% during the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 2,261 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,726 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $639,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 72,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,021,000 after acquiring an additional 1,024 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 25,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,902,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 6,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,437,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ECL opened at $264.99 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $213.94 and a one year high of $268.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $242.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $75.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 260,415 shares of company stock worth $63,544,899 over the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.33.

Ecolab Company 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.