Patten & Patten Inc. TN Cuts Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN decreased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,139 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 565 shares during the quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Abound Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 212.5% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of 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, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.1 %

ECL stock opened at $250.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The stock has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.99, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $252.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.98.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. 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.