D.A. Davidson & CO. Increases Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 16.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 11,026 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $18,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 32.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in Ecolab by 15.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,589,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after acquiring an additional 129,635 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 797.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,550,000 after acquiring an additional 15,834 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $264.99 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $242.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $246.69. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $213.94 and a 52 week high of $268.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.04 billion, a PE ratio of 37.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

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, 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, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 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 company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab 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.