Aldebaran Financial Inc. Sells 386 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Aldebaran Financial Inc. decreased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 21.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,451 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 386 shares during the quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $231.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $65.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $248.43. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.27 and a one year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.