Parallel Advisors LLC Has $9.97 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Parallel Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 544 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its position in Ecolab by 295.5% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 136,731 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,039,000 after buying an additional 102,162 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in Ecolab by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 6,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,407,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust co raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 24,612 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,767,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 839,566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $196,727,000 after acquiring an additional 136,734 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $250.87 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.98. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

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.