PFG Investments LLC Sells 98 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

PFG Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,874 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 98 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $390,687,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,578,000 after buying an additional 735,934 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 295.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,317,000 after acquiring an additional 591,040 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the first 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. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 580.7% during the second 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 period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was 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 directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $253.49 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $252.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $241.03. 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 $262.61. The company has a market cap of $72.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.53, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 38.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ECL. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $271.80.

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.