Simon Quick Advisors LLC Takes Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% during the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% in the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.3 %

ECL opened at $242.28 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $241.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $245.60. The firm has a market cap of $68.60 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $195.49 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.