Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Sells 676 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,273 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 676 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 150.0% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Motco acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2,042.9% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ECL. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.69.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $4.69 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $242.88. 1,532,911 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,172,495. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $245.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.