Parallel Advisors LLC Sells 882 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Parallel Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 43,747 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 882 shares during the quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $10,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on ECL shares. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.67.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $250.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $253.54. The company has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.40, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $243.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $234.93.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.