Parallel Advisors LLC Has $303,000 Position in Ecolab Inc. (ECL)

Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 13.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,414 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,454,223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,563,731,000 after buying an additional 1,044,370 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.3% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,555,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $445,590,000 after buying an additional 574,200 shares during the last quarter. AXA raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 38.6% in the first quarter. AXA now owns 1,406,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $176,247,000 after buying an additional 391,686 shares during the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 10.8% in the first quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 3,418,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $428,535,000 after buying an additional 333,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 25.9% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 980,742 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $122,926,000 after buying an additional 201,700 shares during the last quarter. 75.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE ECL) traded up 0.08% during midday trading on Friday, reaching $131.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 847,774 shares. The company has a market capitalization of $38.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.16 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $132.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.93. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $110.65 and a 12-month high of $134.89.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 9.47%. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post $4.78 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 20th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.91%.

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Nomura raised Ecolab from a “reduce” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $99.00 to $118.00 in a research note on Monday, April 3rd. Canaccord Genuity reissued a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $141.00 price target (up from $133.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. Instinet raised Ecolab from a “reduce” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $118.00 in a research note on Monday, April 3rd. Finally, J P Morgan Chase & Co raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $120.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Friday, May 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.79.

In related news, Director Carl M. Casale acquired 5,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $126.33 per share, with a total value of $631,650.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,452,163.35. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen M. Taylor sold 23,151 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.06, for a total value of $3,080,472.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,916,645.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 44,810 shares of company stock valued at $5,897,361. Company insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene and energy technologies and services. The Company’s cleaning and sanitizing programs and products, pest elimination services and equipment maintenance and repair services support customers in the foodservice, food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, government and education, retail, textile care and commercial facilities management sectors in over 170 countries.