Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Sells 3,388 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lowered its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 69.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,465 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,388 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,927 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its holdings in Ecolab by 295.5% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 136,731 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,039,000 after purchasing an additional 102,162 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 6,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 24,612 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,767,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of ECL opened at $251.83 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $254.06 and its 200-day moving average is $250.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.43 billion, a PE ratio of 34.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 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.