Lbp Am Sa Sells 95,570 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Lbp Am Sa lowered its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 91.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,161 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 95,570 shares during the period. Lbp Am Sa’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $990,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,424,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Ecolab by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $916,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now 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 this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of ECL stock traded up $9.55 during trading on Thursday, hitting $240.24. 1,870,221 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,161,533. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $249.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $239.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $226.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.13.

About Ecolab

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.