Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Cuts Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lowered its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 93,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 13,453 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $21,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.71.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.3 %

ECL stock opened at $238.44 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $254.29 and its 200 day moving average is $249.00. The stock has a market cap of $67.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

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.