Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Baillie Gifford & Co. lowered its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 950,398 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 67,574 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $222,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Copperleaf Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Copperleaf Capital LLC now owns 2,562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $3,685,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 10,034 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,351,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the period. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total transaction of $25,698,995.82. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,079,209,816.61. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on ECL shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $264.99 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $242.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $246.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $75.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.94 and a twelve month high of $268.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its 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 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

About Ecolab

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.