Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,825 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,423,116,000 after buying an additional 304,402 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $390,687,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,128,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $223,933,000 after purchasing an additional 62,434 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of 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 raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.73.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $248.61 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $253.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $244.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $235.56. The stock has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued 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 0.92%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.