Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC Sells 169 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,599 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 169 shares during the period. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its stake in Ecolab by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management boosted its stake in Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ECL. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of ECL opened at $265.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $243.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.06. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.94 and a 1 year high of $268.00. The stock has a market cap of $75.30 billion, a PE ratio of 37.30, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.