Aldebaran Financial Inc. Acquires 351 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Aldebaran Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter valued at $117,000. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter valued at $134,000. Institutional investors own 75.73% of the company’s stock.

Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) opened at 130.11 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $110.65 and a 12-month high of $134.89. The firm has a market cap of $37.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.75 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $132.07 and its 200 day moving average is $128.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post $4.80 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 19th will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.79%.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Canaccord Genuity reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Monday, May 1st. J P Morgan Chase & Co upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $120.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Friday, May 26th. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $134.20.

In other Ecolab news, SVP Bruno Lavandier sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.52, for a total value of $133,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,191,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael A. Hickey sold 13,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total transaction of $1,798,810.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,851 shares of company stock valued at $5,012,802. Corporate 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.