Evoke Wealth LLC lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) by 19.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,802 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,112 shares during the period. Evoke Wealth LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 580 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Ecolab by 2.9% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,047 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Rational Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 133.3% during the fourth quarter. Rational Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,383 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 3.8% during the first quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.04% of the company's stock.
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Insider Activity
In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 3,200 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Monday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.74, for a total transaction of $533,568.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,756,652.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 3,200 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Monday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.74, for a total transaction of $533,568.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,756,652.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III purchased 149,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $171.47 per share, for a total transaction of $25,581,609.30. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 30,834,744 shares in the company, valued at $5,287,233,553.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.04% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages have weighed in on ECL. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, July 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $187.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Ecolab from $195.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 27th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, June 3rd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $191.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, July 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $194.12.
Ecolab Stock Performance
NYSE:ECL opened at $176.56 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $50.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.02. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $143.82 and a fifty-two week high of $238.93. The firm's 50 day moving average is $159.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.33.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The company had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Ecolab's revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.
Ecolab Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 20th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 19th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 53.13%.
About Ecolab
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Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segments. 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.
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