18,490 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Bought by MBB Public Markets I LLC

MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 18,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,401,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $843,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $449,000. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its position in Ecolab by 159.9% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 189,843 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $42,158,000 after buying an additional 116,809 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 12.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 109,521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,066,000 after buying an additional 11,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 17.2% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 544,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $129,520,000 after buying an additional 79,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.43.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value 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 $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $254.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.67 billion, a PE ratio of 47.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $256.59. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $236.93.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th 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 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio 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.