Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lowered its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,077 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 195 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after purchasing an additional 304,402 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Ecolab by 5.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,851,000 after purchasing an additional 122,715 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after buying an additional 43,553 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $326,626,000 after buying an additional 24,648 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. 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 company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.1 %

Ecolab stock opened at $253.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $251.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $240.60.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. Analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

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.