Banque Pictet & Cie SA Raises Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 247 shares during the quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,940,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 83,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.96, for a total value of $20,629,403.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,534,868 shares in the company, valued at $7,264,396,133.28. The trade was a 0.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 260,415 shares of company stock worth $63,544,899. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $264.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.17, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $213.94 and a one year high of $268.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $242.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.33. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. Analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.33.

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.