Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI reduced its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 518 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 206.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $179,749,000 after buying an additional 516,970 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,564,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,073,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,204,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Ecolab by 64.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 330,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,380,000 after purchasing an additional 129,738 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $259.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $251.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $249.90. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.05 and a 12-month high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $73.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.