Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Has $3.73 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,919 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 199 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $521,399,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% during the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $334,394,000 after acquiring an additional 708,432 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 206.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Ecolab by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $733,201,000 after acquiring an additional 514,944 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $80,564,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of ECL stock opened at $252.78 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $71.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.25, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $247.38 and its 200-day moving average is $247.55.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.33%.

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.