Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC Purchases 261 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,236 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up about 1.2% of Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $10,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in Ecolab by 206.7% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $179,749,000 after acquiring an additional 516,970 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $80,564,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $61,073,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,204,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 330,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,380,000 after buying an additional 129,738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’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 value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 stock was 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 owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of ECL opened at $269.68 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.61. 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 one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $76.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.