Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Sarasin & Partners LLP

Sarasin & Partners LLP cut its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 40.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 457,767 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 308,887 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $108,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $221,000. Keel Point LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $213,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 39,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,762,000 after buying an additional 995 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in Ecolab by 125.8% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Trust Co. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 96,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,142,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ECL shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.00.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3 %

ECL traded up $0.72 on Friday, hitting $240.66. 816,703 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,157,082. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $249.00. The company has a market cap of $68.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $240.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $229.96.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.04% 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.