Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC Sells 235 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 235 shares during the period. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Riverwater Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $916,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 16,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,717,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5 %

ECL traded down $1.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $218.16. 2,586,603 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,222,955. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $223.03 and a 200 day moving average of $198.77. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 47.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $216.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.47.

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.