Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Cuts Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,584 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 326 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.6% in the second quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $990,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,424,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Ecolab by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $247.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 538,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,143,449. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $249.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $240.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $231.36. The firm has a market cap of $70.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.78, 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 announced 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 company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 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, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.