Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Reduces Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC trimmed its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 368 shares during the period. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,658,768,000 after purchasing an additional 105,289 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,231,873,000 after acquiring an additional 91,475 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $936,300,000 after acquiring an additional 304,478 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $831,744,000 after acquiring an additional 200,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $733,201,000 after acquiring an additional 514,944 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $258.96 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $246.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $247.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $73.45 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ECL. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $282.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.