Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,032 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc increased its position in Ecolab by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $990,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association increased its holdings in Ecolab by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 6,122 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor OS LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 1.2% in the second quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, 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 value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.21.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $251.44 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $244.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $236.02. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $253.57. The firm has a market cap of $71.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.