SVB Wealth LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

SVB Wealth LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 24.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,692 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,201 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Ecolab by 58.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,510,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $802,069,000 after acquiring an additional 2,023,685 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $276,712,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 65,845.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,835,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $267,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,139 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $304,475,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 117.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,669,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $282,185,000 after purchasing an additional 903,307 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $219.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.30. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $231.86. The company has a market cap of $62.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $222.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $198.63.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.47.

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.