Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group Decreases Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 737 shares during the period. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,181,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,317,811,000 after purchasing an additional 68,043 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,842,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $981,007,000 after purchasing an additional 35,027 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,499,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $586,309,000 after purchasing an additional 83,328 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,441,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $337,770,000 after purchasing an additional 38,402 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $255.02 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $251.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $249.94. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

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.