Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Gamco Investors INC. ET AL

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL trimmed its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 79,411 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 360 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $18,336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $221,000. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 73,838 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,646,000 after acquiring an additional 3,306 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 18,999 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 101.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 20,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,066,000 after purchasing an additional 10,317 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded up $1.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $245.24. 848,665 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 898,611. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $239.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $225.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $248.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on ECL. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.06.

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.