Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC Sells 70 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the period. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. United Bank raised its holdings in Ecolab by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 4,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 17.1% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 73,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,920,000 after buying an additional 10,676 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $228.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 118,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,209,411. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $216.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.43 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.19.

Ecolab 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.