Blair William & Co. IL Trims Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Blair William & Co. IL lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 886,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 13,652 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 0.31% of Ecolab worth $210,951,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.73.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $250.46 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $253.57. The firm has a market cap of $71.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.38, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $243.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $235.47.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Ecolab 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.