Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Sells 1,840 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,840 shares during the quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $8,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,423,116,000 after purchasing an additional 304,402 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the 2nd 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 period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth about $390,687,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 1.8% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Ecolab by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,128,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $223,933,000 after acquiring an additional 62,434 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.7 %

Ecolab stock opened at $248.61 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $253.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $244.09 and a 200 day moving average of $235.56. 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 (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 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 business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other 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, for a total transaction 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. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value 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. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.