Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Sells 228 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 228 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE ECL opened at $267.10 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $269.23. 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 firm has a market cap of $75.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $246.64 and its 200-day moving average is $248.42.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

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.