Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC Sells 485 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC cut its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,577 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 485 shares during the quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 2,805.1% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,635,000 after purchasing an additional 37,167 shares during the period. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,129,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $749,000. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership increased its stake in Ecolab by 526.2% in the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after purchasing an additional 47,863 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,338,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab 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 owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ecolab 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 completion of the transaction, 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 at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group raised their price target on Ecolab from $269.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $239.56.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $240.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $68.73 billion, a PE ratio of 44.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $232.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.67. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $245.93.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors 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 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

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.