CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Sells 4,842 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 134,972 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,842 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $31,660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Martin Currie Ltd. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. Martin Currie Ltd. now owns 5,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 739,978 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $173,392,000 after buying an additional 177,579 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Ecolab by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 543,128 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $127,266,000 after buying an additional 66,035 shares in the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 1,404 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz SE bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $711,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.7 %

Ecolab stock opened at $253.64 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $256.36 and a 200 day moving average of $250.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $71.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.