Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Sells 182 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,331 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $253.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.58, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $252.58 and a 200-day moving average of $241.50. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $157.59 and a 52 week high of $262.61. 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 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 return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a $0.57 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is 38.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.