Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 4,800 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL trimmed its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 69,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,800 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $16,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $521,399,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 98.6% during the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $334,394,000 after buying an additional 708,432 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 206.7% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $179,749,000 after acquiring an additional 516,970 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $80,564,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $936,300,000 after purchasing an additional 304,478 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 target price on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $313.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.67.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2 %

ECL stock opened at $238.24 on Wednesday. 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 $273.69. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $254.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.92. The company has a market cap of $67.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

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.