BLB&B Advisors LLC Has $8.62 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

BLB&B Advisors LLC cut its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,020 shares during the quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $8,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Abound Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 212.5% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.60.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $247.39 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $241.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $245.95. The company has a market cap of $70.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.70, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $200.50 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.47%.

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.