State of Alaska Department of Revenue Buys 305 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 30,679 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,833,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.2 %

ECL stock opened at $256.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $252.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $241.28. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $157.59 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.26%.

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.