Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Next Capital Management LLC

Next Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,733 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 287 shares during the period. Next Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after acquiring an additional 304,402 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,851,000 after purchasing an additional 122,715 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth about $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $326,626,000 after buying an additional 24,648 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $265.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.5 %

Ecolab stock opened at $254.59 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.15, a P/E/G 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 $256.59. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $245.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company 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 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.