Mather Group LLC. Decreases Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mather Group LLC. decreased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 38.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 363 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $390,687,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 295.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,317,000 after buying an additional 591,040 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,182,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,598,240,000 after acquiring an additional 305,039 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Ecolab by 580.7% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,248,000 after acquiring an additional 258,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 136.0% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 359,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $85,467,000 after acquiring an additional 206,973 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $254.00 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $258.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $247.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $238.82. The company has a market capitalization of $72.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, 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 report on Monday, September 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.07.

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.