Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 39.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,584 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,042 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,182,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,598,240,000 after buying an additional 305,039 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,264,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $449,215,000 after acquiring an additional 91,547 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,855,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $367,965,000 after acquiring an additional 155,151 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $365,420,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,343,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $266,392,000 after purchasing an additional 18,687 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of ECL stock traded up $1.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $246.12. 743,305 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,163,979. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $237.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.28. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $246.49. The stock has a market cap of $70.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.58, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.11. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Mizuho raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.06.

Ecolab 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.