Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Acquires 1,847 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,973 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,847 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 797.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,550,000 after acquiring an additional 15,834 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Ecolab by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,552,000 after acquiring an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Corundum Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $246,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $253.64 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $256.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.26. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.05 and a 12-month high of $273.69. The firm has a market cap of $71.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought 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 directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Redburn Atlantic cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.88.

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.