ProShare Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

ProShare Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 846,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 56,567 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.30% of Ecolab worth $201,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 42.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. Team Hewins LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $215,000. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its position in Ecolab by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 20,689 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,104,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Ecolab by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 249,368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,462,000 after purchasing an additional 19,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 12,819 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,543,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $251.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.80 billion, a PE ratio of 46.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $244.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $235.94. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $253.57.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid 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 yield of 0.91%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.21.

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.