First Pacific Financial Decreases Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

First Pacific Financial lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 126 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley lifted its position 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 during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $276,712,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 65,845.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,835,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $267,237,000 after buying an additional 1,833,139 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $304,475,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 117.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,669,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $282,185,000 after buying an additional 903,307 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $231.80 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $214.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.11. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $231.86. The company has a market cap of $66.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.39, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 47.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Ecolab from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.19.

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.