Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC Sells 214 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 214 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.33.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $264.47 on Monday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $244.73 and a 200-day moving average of $247.78. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $268.00. The stock has a market cap of $74.89 billion, a PE ratio of 35.84, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.