Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA Sells 2,335 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA lowered its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,903 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,335 shares during the quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 117.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,669,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $282,185,000 after purchasing an additional 903,307 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 19,062.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 555,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $110,261,000 after purchasing an additional 552,992 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,877,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,875,434,000 after buying an additional 387,545 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 62.1% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 984,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $166,775,000 after buying an additional 377,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 50.2% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 687,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $116,433,000 after acquiring an additional 229,776 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $216.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.88.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.1 %

ECL traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $233.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 239,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,196,928. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.19, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $225.35 and its 200-day moving average is $204.91. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $234.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company 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.