Quest Investment Management LLC Sells 2,695 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Quest Investment Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,623 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,695 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up approximately 1.8% of Quest Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Quest Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $15,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 42.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares during the last quarter. Team Hewins LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $215,000. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its position in Ecolab by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 20,689 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,104,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 249,368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,462,000 after acquiring an additional 19,489 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 12,819 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,543,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $251.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $253.57. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $244.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $235.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.