36,399 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Purchased by Fred Alger Management LLC

Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 36,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,663,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its stake in Ecolab by 740.9% in the 2nd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 94,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,414,000 after purchasing an additional 82,978 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 60.4% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 49,292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,731,000 after buying an additional 18,556 shares in the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 12.3% in the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.4% in the second quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,988 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,425,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Ecolab by 295.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,317,000 after acquiring an additional 591,040 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.21.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’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 purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $254.82 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $244.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $236.45. The firm has a market cap of $72.51 billion, a PE ratio of 47.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $255.99. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 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.