Norris Perne & French LLP MI Sells 4,571 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Norris Perne & French LLP MI lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 134,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,571 shares during the period. Ecolab comprises about 2.2% of Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $31,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Peak Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,424,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 19.1% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Ecolab from $269.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.56.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $1.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $238.00. 1,806,035 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,213,723. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $245.93. The business’s fifty day moving average is $233.72 and its 200-day moving average is $219.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.12.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.