LPL Financial LLC Sells 1,713 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

LPL Financial LLC trimmed its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 188,936 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,713 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.07% of Ecolab worth $44,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $749,000. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 84.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,098,000 after purchasing an additional 6,137 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its position in Ecolab by 527.9% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 87,915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,438,000 after purchasing an additional 73,913 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in Ecolab by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,128,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $223,933,000 after purchasing an additional 62,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 27,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,525,000 after purchasing an additional 8,220 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $250.54 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $253.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $243.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $235.09.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

About Ecolab

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.