Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. lowered its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 564 shares during the period. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $282,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 3,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its position in Ecolab by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 136,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,763,000 after buying an additional 3,328 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $268.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $76.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $270.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $247.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $248.69.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Three 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Company 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.