Acadian Asset Management LLC Has $141.76 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Acadian Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 595,709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 119,338 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Ecolab worth $141,755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Motco bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $245.05 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $242.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.98. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $253.54. 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 company has a market cap of $69.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.38, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.67.

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.