Xponance Inc. Sells 1,351 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Xponance Inc. decreased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 51,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,351 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $10,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $916,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the third quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 16,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,717,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% in the third quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of ECL traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $218.74. The stock had a trading volume of 104,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,191,336. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.77. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $231.86. The company has a market capitalization of $62.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.47.

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.