One Wealth Management Investment & Advisory Services LLC Sells 85 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

One Wealth Management Investment & Advisory Services LLC cut its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. One Wealth Management Investment & Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $217,000. Lincoln National Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 3,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,327 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $858,000 after acquiring an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,190,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP boosted its position in Ecolab by 62.2% during the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 4,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 1,534 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of ECL traded down $1.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $245.05. The company had a trading volume of 723,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,128,095. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $242.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $233.86. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $253.54. 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 (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ECL. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.67.

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.