Advisory Services Network LLC Has $2.92 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Advisory Services Network LLC lowered its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,632 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 462 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $365,420,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 19,062.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 555,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $110,261,000 after purchasing an additional 552,992 shares during the period. Findlay Park Partners LLP bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $91,178,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,877,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,875,434,000 after purchasing an additional 387,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 1,133.0% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 252,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $58,368,000 after buying an additional 232,282 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $245.26. The stock had a trading volume of 149,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,159,500. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $246.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.04 billion, a PE ratio of 45.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $236.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. Analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

About Ecolab

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.