NBC Securities Inc. Sells 50 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

NBC Securities Inc. decreased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,018 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Motco bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ECL. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $239.56.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.2 %

ECL stock opened at $243.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $245.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $231.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $217.21.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

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.