Headlands Technologies LLC Sells 2,298 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Headlands Technologies LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 80.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 544 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,298 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after buying an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% during the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after buying an additional 43,553 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $365,420,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter valued at approximately $390,687,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in Ecolab by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,128,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $223,933,000 after buying an additional 62,434 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.67.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $250.54 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a PE ratio of 46.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $243.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $235.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $253.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.