Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Sells 738 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 738 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Invesco LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $263.94 on Tuesday. 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 50-day moving average of $245.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $247.97. The stock has a market cap of $74.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $268.00.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.00.

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.