Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC Sells 171 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 171 shares during the period. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 27,950.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,578,000 after buying an additional 735,934 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $80,564,000. Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 750.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 162,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,519,000 after buying an additional 143,497 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 330,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,380,000 after buying an additional 129,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,552,000 after buying an additional 129,635 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays increased their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.60.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 83,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.96, for a total transaction of $20,629,403.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,534,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,264,396,133.28. The trade was a 0.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899 over the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE ECL opened at $245.50 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.99 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $241.86 and a 200-day moving average of $245.96. The company has a market cap of $69.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.43, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

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 paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

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.