One Wealth Management Investment & Advisory Services LLC Trims Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

One Wealth Management Investment & Advisory Services LLC lessened its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. One Wealth Management Investment & Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after purchasing an additional 304,402 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,264,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $449,215,000 after purchasing an additional 91,547 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $365,420,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at $390,687,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of 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. 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. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.67.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $1.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $245.05. The stock had a trading volume of 723,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,128,095. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $253.54. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $242.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.86. The stock has a market cap of $69.98 billion, a PE ratio of 45.38, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio 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.