Accredited Investors Inc. Sells 45 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Accredited Investors Inc. cut its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,414 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 45 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock opened at $232.09 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $273.69. 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 $65.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $255.14 and its 200-day moving average is $249.45.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 target price on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.