Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,582 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,510 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $32,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 dated 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 directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $269.47 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.05 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $247.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $248.96. The company has a market capitalization of $76.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (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%. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

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.