Tranquility Partners LLC Sells 218 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Tranquility Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,991 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 218 shares during the quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $330,000. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 40,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,267,000 after buying an additional 1,717 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,852 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $262.36 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $242.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $246.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $74.29 billion, a PE ratio of 36.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $212.71 and a one year high of $267.56.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. On average, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their target price on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,415 shares of company stock worth $63,544,899. 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.