Wealthspire Advisors LLC Sells 2,027 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,027 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2,805.1% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,635,000 after purchasing an additional 37,167 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,129,000 after buying an additional 2,051 shares during the period. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Ecolab by 526.2% during the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after acquiring an additional 47,863 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,338,000 after acquiring an additional 9,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,040,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE ECL traded up $0.35 during trading on Thursday, reaching $233.58. 721,302 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,207,771. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $234.68. The stock has a market cap of $66.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $225.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $204.71.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.88.

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.