Clarius Group LLC Sells 41 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Clarius Group LLC lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 41 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position 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 worth $608,851,000 after buying an additional 122,715 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 2.3% during the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,149,000 after buying an additional 43,553 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after acquiring an additional 24,648 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab 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 transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $254.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $258.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $247.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 38.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.07.

About Ecolab

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.