Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Sells 5,037 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 22.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,037 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.7% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth $115,000. Avestar Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 14.6% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.5% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 13,503 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $252.95 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $71.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.27, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $255.81 and its 200 day moving average is $250.18.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released 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 return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 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.