Hartford Investment Management Co. Has $4.07 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,938 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 365 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4,840.0% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 247 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $231,000. Transform Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Transform Wealth LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $247,000. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 47.8% in the first quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 739 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $258.72 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $251.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $240.49. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $73.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.91, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. 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.