Marshall Wace LLP Boosts Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 295.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 591,040 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 0.28% of Ecolab worth $188,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ECL. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $390,687,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,182,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,598,240,000 after acquiring an additional 305,039 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 580.7% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,248,000 after acquiring an additional 258,971 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 136.0% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 359,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $85,467,000 after acquiring an additional 206,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 65.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 474,603 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $109,583,000 after acquiring an additional 188,455 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $254.92 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $244.60 and a 200-day moving average of $236.24. The firm has a market cap of $72.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $255.29.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Robert W. Baird upped 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. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.21.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now 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.

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.