Ecolab Inc. (ECL) Position Decreased by Security Asset Management

Security Asset Management lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,963 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 52 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for approximately 2.6% of Security Asset Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Security Asset Management’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 60.0% in the first quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co now owns 800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.5% in the first quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 871 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at $117,000. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.7% in the first quarter. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America now owns 1,012 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at $134,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.73% of the company’s stock.

Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) opened at 130.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $37.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.77 and a beta of 0.98. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.65 and a 52 week high of $134.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $132.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.08.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 9.66%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post $4.80 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 19th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 33.79%.

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Several research firms recently weighed in on ECL. Deutsche Bank AG upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $141.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, June 2nd. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Credit Suisse Group set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.20.

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III acquired 75,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $132.57 per share, with a total value of $10,009,035.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen M. Taylor sold 23,151 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.06, for a total value of $3,080,472.06. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,916,645.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,851 shares of company stock worth $5,012,802. Corporate insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.

About Ecolab

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.

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