Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Sells 2,181 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE trimmed its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,181 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2,805.1% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,635,000 after acquiring an additional 37,167 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $749,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 29.8% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,863 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 527.9% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 87,915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,438,000 after acquiring an additional 73,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 84.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,098,000 after acquiring an additional 6,137 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $240.66. The stock had a trading volume of 816,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,157,082. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $240.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.74. 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 $68.73 billion, a PE 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.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The firm 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.00.

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.