Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Sells 368 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 368 shares during the quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.47.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of ECL opened at $258.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $73.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $246.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.