Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 4,736 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 36.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,736 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Motco purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 2,042.9% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $0.90 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $243.17. The stock had a trading volume of 1,025,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,023,930. The business’s 50 day moving average is $238.23 and its 200-day moving average is $224.01. The company has a market cap of $69.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.03, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.11. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $246.51. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.06.

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.