Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 168,123 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,199 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.06% of Ecolab worth $40,013,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at $390,687,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,182,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,598,240,000 after buying an additional 305,039 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 136.0% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 359,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $85,467,000 after buying an additional 206,973 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Ecolab by 65.9% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 474,603 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $109,583,000 after buying an additional 188,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 208.2% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 266,788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,298,000 after buying an additional 180,212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction 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 $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’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 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. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.1 %

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

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ECL. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Six investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.21.

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.