Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 2,804 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 63,597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,804 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $14,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 15,834 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after buying an additional 129,635 shares during the period. Corundum Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 47.9% in the fourth quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,769,000 after buying an additional 2,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $246,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $249.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $256.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $250.18. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.