Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,265 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 537 shares during the quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $249.29 on Friday. 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 cap of $70.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $256.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.18. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.88.

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.