Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,536 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $26,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,264,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $449,215,000 after buying an additional 91,547 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,855,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $367,965,000 after purchasing an additional 155,151 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $365,420,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,343,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $266,392,000 after purchasing an additional 18,687 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Mizuho raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.06.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock traded up $3.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $248.39. 667,344 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,136,214. The company has a market cap of $70.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $239.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.94. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $249.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.